Daniel Ricciardo’s famous beaming smile was perhaps bigger than ever after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which wrapped up the 2022 season.
His incredible smile was due to the Australian being announced by Red Bull as their new development driver for 2023, with the 33-year-old returning to his ‘home’.
Ricciardo has endured four challenging years since leaving the Austrians, where he’s largely under-performed at both Renault and McLaren.
His victory at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix is the one rare occasion where the eight-time Grand Prix winner drove like his former-Red Bull self since leaving the dominant side, suggesting that departing Red Bull was perhaps his biggest mistake.
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Ricciardo previously raced for Red Bull from 2014-2018, where he overcome some incredible team-mates.
In 2014, Ricciardo ended the season above four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel, before the German departed for Ferrari.
In 2015, Ricciardo was the team’s number one driver but actually finished just below team-mate Daniil Kvyat, before the Russian was sacked by Red Bull early in 2016 for Max Verstappen.
Ricciardo finished above Verstappen in 2016 and 2017, before things began to breakdown between himself and the team in 2018 following a collision between the Red Bull drivers at Azerbaijan.
His role for 2023 obviously won’t involve any racing, with him set to take part in testing, simulator work and a whole heap of marketing, including, demo runs.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner was delighted to confirm that the Aussie is returning to the side, with Horner highlighting the former-McLaren drivers “experience and knowledge”.
“Daniel will give us the chance to diversify, assisting in the development of the car, aiding the team with his experience and knowledge of what it takes to succeed in F1,” said Horner.
Ricciardo has made it well-known that he wants to return full-time in 2024, something that could potentially happen at Red Bull should the relationship between Verstappen and Sergio Pérez continue to break down.
Should it worsen, then Ricciardo will likely be on hand to take over from Checo should the Austrians become ruthless at protecting their star driver, who, it seems is untouchable.
Despite this, Ricciardo doesn’t plan to attend every race in 2023, with the driver wanting a “little bit of time” to himself next season.
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“I won’t be at 24 races,” Ricciardo said.
“Otherwise I may as well still be on the grid. I made it clear that I needed time off.
“It has beaten me down, the past couple of years, which is why I want a little bit of time removed. I want to find a part of myself again and rebuild a little bit.”