DANIEL Ricciardo has finally confirmed his future in Formula One after officially announcing a return to Red Bull for 2023 as a third driver.<\/p>\n
Ricciardo will likely not drive in 2023 but will be a big presence on the F1 grid, acting as a super-sub if one of the drivers was unable to start a race.<\/p>\n
The Perth native enjoyed the best days of his career at Red Bull, winning seven races and notching up 29 appearances on the podium.<\/p>\n
Ricciardo has struggled to recapture the blistering form that saw him regularly finish near the top and looks set to take a step back with Red Bull in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people have been saying to me, \u2018Why on earth would Daniel Ricciardo go back to be a third\/reserve driver, when he\u2019s clearly good enough to be at the front of the grid if he\u2019s got the right car\u2019,\u201d Matt White said on SEN 1170 Mornings<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reasons are here for us to see now, it\u2019s a lot around he\u2019s fearing that he\u2019s losing the love for the sport that he\u2019s in, so he just needs to take a step back.<\/p>\n \u201cHe said I need a step away for a bit, I need to rebuild myself, reset a bit and find the intense love for it.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously he thinks the best place to do that is back at Red Bull, take a look at the photos and what he\u2019s saying, he\u2019s happy as Larry.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got his Red Bull shirt back on, you\u2019ve got to remember that\u2019s where he had all his success, that\u2019s where things were going good.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I see here is a man that needs to just be happy to be back again in Formula One, he had two options, get out of there completely and shut the door or accept a role like this and essentially start again and make sure that he has his foot in the door.<\/p>\n \u201cIs he happy? yep, is his future looked in? Not sur e\u2026 while he\u2019s got a massive smile on his face, there\u2019s a muted smile I reckon from Christian Horner.\u201d<\/p>\n Since leaving Red Bull in 2018 Ricciardo spent a collective four years at Renault and McLaren where he took out three spots on the podium, including the famous win at Monza in 2021.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n