Daniel Ricciardo responds to Red Bull reserve return rumours with ...

Daniel Ricciardo has ruled out the possibility that he could return to Red Bull as the team’s reserve driver after being dropped by junior team VCARB.

Ricciardo appeared to contest his final race for VCARB at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, with the Australian likely to be replaced by highly rated Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson ahead of the next race in the United States.

The 35-year-old cut an emotional figure at the end of the race in Singapore, where he was treated to a guard of honour by the VCARB team upon his return to the team’s hospitality unit in the paddock.

Ricciardo enjoyed the most successful days of his F1 career in a five-year stint with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018, with whom he collected all but one of his eight career victories before spells with Renault and McLaren.

After being dropped by McLaren at the end of the 2022 season, Ricciardo returned to Red Bull as the team’s reserve driver at the start of 2023, impressing in a Pirelli tyre test appearance before returning to a race seat with VCARB (then AlphaTauri) last July.

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It has been suggested that Ricciardo will remain in Red Bull’s ‘driver pool’ even after losing his race seat, sparking speculation that he could be considered for another F1 comeback in the future.

Speaking after the Singapore GP, however, Ricciardo claimed that it no longer makes sense to take a reserve role with the “fairytale ending” of a return to a Red Bull seat now unlikely.

And he admitted that he has struggled to keep up with the younger cohort of F1 drivers, with advances in technology – including the rise of driver-in-the-loop simulators – making it harder for drivers of his generation.

Asked if he would consider a return to reserve duties, Ricciardo told reporters: “No.

“Obviously, last year it made a lot of sense to keep one foot in the door and obviously the big picture was to try and get back at Red Bull.

“I think if I was to do that again, there’s not really [much point]. I’m not going to restart my career.

“I’m also 35 and I still showed the pace that I’ve had over the years, but it’s obviously been evident that it’s been harder for me to show it every weekend.

“And maybe that is a little bit of an age thing. I think it definitely came easier for me when I was 25 as opposed to 35, but also maybe the competition is just increasing.

“I think that’s probably a common thing with all sports: simulators are getting better, the kids are getting younger, so naturally they’re [more prepared].

“And they have access to all the onboards now, so they can watch and study everyone.

“So maybe it’s just that the level’s increased and it’s probably a tall task for me to fight at that level week in, week out.

“I can’t be disappointed with that. I’m happy that, once upon a time, I could do it and that was a lot of fun.

“And if this is it, I want to make sure I walk away or leave the sport with good memories of it and it doesn’t get into that place where it’s just a grind and I’m out in Q1 every weekend.

“That’s obviously not fun.”

With Lawson almost guaranteed to be promoted to a permanent seat for F1 2025, Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko suggested during the summer break that his duties as reserve driver are likely to be inherited by F2 driver Isack Hadjar.

The French-Algerian currently sits second in the standings in F1’s feeder series, 3.5 points behind McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto, ahead of the final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Writing in his Speedweek column in August, Marko vowed that Hadjar will have a role of some description with Red Bull’s F1 operation next year.

He said: “He clearly has the potential for Formula 1. We’ll see how everything develops, but he will certainly take on a role of some kind.

“It could be that, like Lawson, he will spend a year as a test and simulator driver.”

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