Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo might have lost his spot on the Formula One grid but he isn’t shying away from the spotlight as the paddock heads to his backyard for the third round of the season.
As a reserve driver for Red Bull this year, Ricciardo admitted that “it’s not about me this year,” adding that ”it’s about the wider team and trying to contribute and help them where I can.”
“It’s been a tough couple of years professionally, so there’s an element of that competitor in me wanting to remind people that I’m still here, still a professional and still contributing to success,” Ricciardo explained, stating that his 2023 goals are not “100 percent about racing and competing.”
“I don’t want the year to pass me by, because if I am racing again next year, I’ll wish I’d made the most of the free time whilst I had it,” Ricciardo stated, hinting at his aim to be back in a race seat next season.
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Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Ricciardo has jumped back behind the wheel of a Red Bull, testing out the team’s title-winning RB7 around the country’s outback.
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In a video released by the team, the Australian teamed up with other Red Bull athletes to take the famous car on a cross-country trip past some stunning and scenic coastline.
For Ricciardo, this year marks the first time since he entered Formula One where he will not be joining his fellow drivers around the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, having lost his seat at McLaren in a shake-up announced last year.
Ricciardo was replaced by fellow Australian Oscar Piastri, who has struggled in his opening races as a Formula One driver, recording a DNF in Bahrain and a 15th place finish in Saudi Arabia.