What’s behind Ricciardo’s move back to Red Bull?

DANIEL Ricciardo has finally confirmed his future in Formula One after officially announcing a return to Red Bull for 2023 as a third driver.

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.

The Perth native enjoyed the best days of his career at Red Bull, winning seven races and notching up 29 appearances on the podium.

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.

“A lot of people have been saying to me, ‘Why on earth would Daniel Ricciardo go back to be a third/reserve driver, when he’s clearly good enough to be at the front of the grid if he’s got the right car’,” Matt White said on SEN 1170 Mornings.

“The reasons are here for us to see now, it’s a lot around he’s fearing that he’s losing the love for the sport that he’s in, so he just needs to take a step back.

“He said I need a step away for a bit, I need to rebuild myself, reset a bit and find the intense love for it.

“Obviously he thinks the best place to do that is back at Red Bull, take a look at the photos and what he’s saying, he’s happy as Larry.

“He’s got his Red Bull shirt back on, you’ve got to remember that’s where he had all his success, that’s where things were going good.

“What 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.

“Is he happy? yep, is his future looked in? Not sur e… while he’s got a massive smile on his face, there’s a muted smile I reckon from Christian Horner.”

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.

– BY DOMINIC CRINITI/ SEN