Daniel Ricciardo opens up on his F1 future, whether at Renault or if he can return to Red Bull Racing, closed door racing and more.
Ricciardo has been around social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, updating on his whereabouts in a farm in Perth, while also writing about the five underrated drivers he competed against in F1 under ‘Dan’s Diary’.
He also appeared on Sky Sports to share some interesting thoughts on the prospect of F1 running races behind closed doors, and his career path moving forward, with the latter of the two topics taking up a significant chunk of the episode.
The theme throughout all of his rhetoric related to this was open mindedness, as Ricciardo even accepted the idea of a Red Bull return. He left the team at the end of 2018 for a surprise switch to Renault in 2019 – which has received much criticism.
However, his first season with the French outfit was not what he had hoped, and this has led to speculation that he is weighing his future options, particularly with the top teams. The top teams being, Mercedes, Ferrari and even Red Bull.
“I actually haven’t really been asked that one,” joked an ever-smiling Ricciardo. “Would I ever rule out going to Red Bull? No, I think something I’ve learned growing up in life is never say never. Never completely disregard something – unless it’s going to prison or something! So never say never.”
Although, a move to Red Bull is most definitely not certain, especially with the team having Max Verstappen and as such the 30-year-old is waiting to make any career-altering decisions at this stage, especially given the lack of racing at this time.
“It is hard having chats right now, because we are at a stalemate – nothing’s really happened,” said Ricciardo. “Normally chats start to come off the back of races, results and momentum. There’s honestly not a lot to talk about for now, it’s more about the current situation and how we’re going to deal with it.
“It’s all pretty slow and steady to be honest at this stage.” It is not just Ricciardo but a lot of other F1 drivers are in a similar period in terms of contract. The Australian is likely to take a pay cut but will it affect the future deal, it remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned flexible mentality, however, is not limited to his career moves. Ricciardo also noted in the vodcast that he – like many other F1 drivers to voice their opinions on this topic – supports closed door racing to start 2020.
Like the true racer he is, the honey badger would rather get back to racing without crowds than wait until he can race with them. “There’s obviously a push for a season to happen in the right circumstances,” said Ricciardo.
“If that means some of it or the start of it is behind closed doors, so be it. As a competitor and for sure not racing since November, December, all I want to do right now is go racing. So as soon as they say we’re all clear to go, of course with a crowd is nice but if we can still race without I’ll take that any day.”
Here’s Daniel Ricciardo on five underrated competitors
Here’s info about Renault furloughing
Here’s Esteban Ocon on Virtual GP and more
Here’s Daniel Ricciardo on Instagram Live
Here’s Daniil Kvyat on Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton
The story was co-written by Darshan Chokhani