Australian Grand Prix 2023: Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 comeback plans

Critics be damned, Daniel Ricciardo is forging his way back to a top team in Formula One for 2024 and he’s lifted the lid on his comeback plans.

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - MARCH 16: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes and Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari talk in the paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 16, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Critics be damned, Daniel Ricciardo is forging his way back to a top team in Formula One for 2024.

Seven months after his acrimonious sacking by McLaren, the Aussie star is back on home soil for his home grand prix but in a reserve driver role alongside world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at Red Bull.

Opportunities to secure a drive for this season were few and far between with Ricciardo wanting to hold out for a top seat as opposed to settling with Haas, Alpine or anyone further back on the grid.

Amid split opinions from the experts on whether the decision for a “year out” would work in his favour, Ricciardo insists “the signs are pointing towards getting back on the grid.”

What became clear after being booted by McLaren and replaced by compatriot Oscar Piastri was that Ricciardo needed time away to evaluate.

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Oracle Red Bull Racing

Not just where things had gone wrong but where his motivation was, how seriously he could compete without a break and, as the Aussie puts it, if he could get his mojo back.

“To go back and to maybe put myself in any seat that’s fighting at best for like a top 10, I don’t think it’s going to bring the best out of me,” he told The Athletic in Melbourne.

“I see myself, at least in my head, wanting to be back on the grid. But there’s still some terms and conditions, so to speak. It’s not at all costs.

“Having the chance to step back and just review everything from afar, and with the luxury of time as well, not to be forced to make a decision or rush anything, I feel that if I’m to get back on the grid, I honestly believe I’ll be a better version of myself. A more mature, experienced, complete version.”

“I want to be back with a top team, and a team where I have that confidence back and my mojo.”

With the F1 season now at an historic length with 23 races on the calendar and Stefano Domenicali seemingly joking at it could even go to 30, Ricciardo admits he never had the chance to stop and think for himself.

That, it seems has been the most valuable gift form his time away.

“I’ve put myself in scenarios now where I’m like, if I got back on the grid tomorrow, what would I do differently?

“You just don’t have the chance when you’re in it. But I also think that everything happens for a reason.

“It made me realise how much I do care about it.”

‘NO MIRACLES’: STAR’S DOWNBEAT FORECAST FOR AUSSIE GP

Ferrari star Charles Leclerc said there would be “no miracle” for the Scuderia at Albert Park this year.

Leclerc won the Australian Grand Prix last year, but said the Ferraris were not coming into this year’s Melbourne race in the “same situation”.

“Clearly our performance is not as good as last year, but we are working massively to try and come back at the front,” Leclerc said.

“We are fully motivated to be back in the front, we know where we need to work on and I don’t think there will be any miracles for this weekend.

“But after that we have got three weeks’ break and we will try to use it in the best way possible in order to bring upgrades as quickly as possible on the car.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc leads Lewis Hamilton during the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Picture: Getty

Meanwhile, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has dismissed any suggestion his future lies anywhere other than Mercedes, declaring he wants to stay with the team until “his last days” in Formula One.

Drawing a line under continued speculation about his future with the Silver Arrows, Hamilton said on Thursday it was a “dream” for him to see out his racing days with the team where he has won six of his seven world championships.

Hamilton’s current deal with Mercedes expires at the end of this year and there have been reports linking him to a switch to Ferrari.

Mercedes has endured a difficult start to the season, well off the pace of frontrunners and rivals Red Bull, with Hamilton finishing fifth in the opening two races.

Chomping on a green apple as he spoke to the media at Albert Park on Thursday, a relaxed Hamilton said he felt at home at his “family” Mercedes.

“I am feeling amazing about it,” Hamilton said.

“I continue to feel very much at home, it’s family. I see myself being at Mercedes until my last days to be honest.

“If you look at the legends, Sir Stirling Moss, he was with Mercedes until the end of days.

“That’s been the dream for me to one day have that. Well, I have that, so just to continue on with that and continue to build with the brand.

“I have got some amazing allies within the team, I have got great relationships here.”

Hamilton, 38, said he still felt “young” and wanted to stay and try and drive the team forward as long as he felt he could contribute.

“Just as long as I can continue to help the team, as long as I can continue to help drive the team forwards and really contribute then that’s why I want to stay,” Hamilton said.

“If there is ever going to be a point where I feel like I am not able to do that then it’s time for a youngster to come in and take my seat.

“But I am still feeling pretty young and in pretty decent shape.”

Hamilton felt the team had made a step forwards in relation to its “performance deficit” to the Red Bulls in the last race in Saudi Arabia.

While he acknowledged Mercedes didn’t have all the answers for its performance at the moment, he was confident the team could turn its fortunes around.

“We are still a world-championship winning team, we have amazing people who have been with us on that journey,” Hamilton said.

“We always need to hold ourselves accountable, each and every one of us, we all need to look at how we go about things and how we can do it better.

“There is not a single person in the team that thinks they have done everything right … and everyone is focused on correcting that.

“That is a huge thing for me because if you have people that are super stuck in their ways and just don’t change then that’s where you’ll stay in that area of being non-competitive.

“That’s inspiring for me and I know that we will get there.”

Originally published as Australian Grand Prix 2023: Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 comeback plans