Daniel Ricciardo: Red Bull reserve driver eyes Formula 1 seat for 2024 - 'I feel there is still unfinished business'
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Published 11/05/2023 at 10:21 GMT+1
Daniel Ricciardo admits he still has 'unfinished business' with Formula 1 after failing to find a seat on the grid for the 2023 season. The Australian returned to former team Red Bull as a reserve driver for the current campaign after leaving McLaren, but wants to 'remind the team I can still do it' when he jumps behind the wheel for a test drive in July. Red Bull are dominating in 2023.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 06: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the Paddock prior to final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at Miami International Autodrome on May 06, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Ti
Image credit: Getty Images
Daniel Ricciardo says he has "unfinished business" in Formula 1 and hopes to remind Red Bull of what he can do when he jumps back in a racing car this summer.
The Australian was left without a seat for the 2023 season when his underwhelming two-year stint at McLaren came to an end.
Ricciardo eventually returned to Red Bull, where he won seven races as a driver between 2014 and 2018, as a reserve driver to world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
"I'm really enjoying this year and I think I'll continue to enjoy it, but by next year I think I'll certainly be eager to get back on the grid and compete," Ricciardo told Sky Sports.
"I feel like there is still some unfinished business.”
The 33-year-old will get to grips with Red Bull’s RB19 this summer during a Pirelli tyre test, the car that has dominated F1 so far this season.
Red Bull sit miles ahead of the rest of the pack at the top of the Constructors’ Championship, with 224 points to second-placed Aston Martin’s 102.
The top two places in the Drivers’ Championship are taken up by Red Bull stars Verstappen (119 points) and Perez (105), leaving Ricciardo with an uphill battle to find a seat for 2024.
"I'm continuing to do simulator. I'm going to jump in the car in July to get back behind the wheel,” Ricciardo said.
“I'm sure that will really stimulate me and give me all those feels back.
"Naturally I'm going to put a bit of pressure on myself for that and try to remind the team that I can still do it. We'll see where it goes."
With double world champion Verstappen tied down to 2028 and Perez under contract for this season and next, competition for places at Red Bull is fierce.
But their sister team Alpha Tauri are yet to confirm drivers for 2024, with Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries’ futures up in the air.
"I know I'll be ready to put myself in a position to be back on the grid next year," Ricciardo said.
"I am staying in shape. I'm giving myself a bit of mental time out but I love playing sports and I love being active, so I haven't allowed myself to get too out of shape."
Verstappen stormed through the field from ninth on the starting grid to comfortably win the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, with Perez behind completing a Red Bull one-two.
Next on the calendar is the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on May 21, before the prestigious Monaco GP takes place a week later.
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