Daniel Ricciardo‘s confirmed departure from McLaren brought the drivers’ silly season of 2022 upon us. And though he might not have gotten a seat on the grid in 2023, he reportedly received nearly $18 million in severance pay since McLaren terminated his contract a year early to bring in Oscar Piastri. What came next brought a smile to everyone’s face- the Australian driver returned to his former team, Red Bull, as a third driver. And with this return there started speculations of him hopping back into the car, as a possible strategic move by Red Bull.

But recently, according to Motorsport Turkey, the details unveiled by Ricciardo himself dismissed any chances of that happening, as he talked about a clause in his contract. The clause in the contract reveals that the seating opportunity, whenever it arises, will be given to Liam Lawson and not the honey badger.

Ricciardo’s move to Red Bull was seen as a threat to Sergio Perez‘s seat post the Brazilian GP chaos. But all that was put to silence as Ricciardo said that the team has not made any promises on the same. As things stand, even Ricciardo is not sure of his return to the grid in 2024.

He revealed, “If I do a good job in the simulator in my contract, it doesn’t say I will be in the race car. I think it will take me a while to understand if I want to return in 2024.”

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With all these, the rumors of him possibly driving even on a Friday seem to have settled down, even if he performs great on the simulator. So maybe we’d just be seeing him in the commercial activities for the Milton-Keynes team.

The fire inside Daniel Ricciardo stays alive

Daniel Ricciardo was marked done and dusted when he had a bad start at McLaren in 2021. Competing alongside Lando Norris as a teammate, he was written off until his famous triumph in Monza the same year. And though he didn’t get any podiums since, the driver has shown self-belief despite setbacks in 2022. He claims that while he had thoughts about retiring, the fire inside of him stays alive and he just needs a break to evaluate things. This might also explain his refusal to join any other team, like Haas.

He said, “I don’t feel like I have completely stopped racing right now. I feel like I want to go back, but only time will show if this is so. I decided not to leave the foundation because there was still a burning fire inside me. I want to see what happens, whether this fire will go out or flare more.”

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“Before making urgent and emotional decisions, I decided to take a break next year to find the answer to this question. In the last period, of course, I had thoughts that it was time to retire, but these were just sentimental things. I don’t want to leave the flame inside me gone out,” he concluded.

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Ricciardo’s return will be one of the most anticipated. Fans would be eager to see a glimpse of him in the next Red Bull challenger, where it is believed he could show his real potential. And if it does happen, it’ll surely be worth the wait for everyone.