“Enjoy the butterflies. Enjoy being naïve. Enjoy the nerves, the pressure,” said Daniel Ricciardo in a McLaren video giving a message to his younger self. But what we never saw coming was the fact that the 8x GP winner will have to become the benchwarmer for a season. But will it last only for a season? If we dissect Honey Badger’s statement from the Australian GP, we might arrive at the conclusion to find out if he will return to F1 at all.

What was the statement you ask? The Australian told The Athletic, “The signs are pointing towards getting back on the grid,” and this seems like where we begin our work. Dany Ric has always been a hot commodity on the grid.

Which F1 Team is Daniel Ricciardo Joining?

Dany Ric stated that he was glad that no top team approached him because he really wanted the year off. However, after he announced his departure from McLaren, there were a series of flirtatious exchanges he had with his ex-home Alpine and Haas, who had already announced that they didn’t want to continue with Mick. And as it stands, both the teams went ahead to sign with drivers who they are very happy with. But Guenther probably still has one eye on Ricciardo.

Guenther Steiner said, “For sure, Danny is…everybody is wanting to speak with Danny after a year off. Maybe he knows again what he wants to do and he will be interesting for everybody in Formula 1. But at the moment, I have a new driver this year, so I need to give him a little bit of a chance.”

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Not ruling out Riccardo, he said, “So let’s see how we are doing with these drivers and, for sure, at some point maybe I speak with him but I cannot promise anything because if our two guys do a good job…”

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Alpine TP, Otmar Szafnauer, also had an inkling to sign Ricciardo before he went for Pierre Gasly and is certain that the Australian will make a return to the F1 grid given the latter’s talent and age. Szafnauer said, “He’s still young, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s back racing in the future.”

While the TPs seem certain that Ricciardo will make a return, the man hasn’t disclosed any names of the team pointing at the “signs” he was talking about, even though a few have been rooting for his permanent return at Milton Keynes.

Daniel Ricciardo returns to Red Bull as the third driver for the 2023 Formula 1 season

While a very successful Daniel Ricciardo scored seven of his eight race wins and around 30 podiums with the Red Bull team, a disappointing 2018 became the reason for him to switch camps. Many think that the reason could be the rise of their prodigal son, Max Verstappen, but what happened in Baku could have played a key role to fast-track that decision. But as fate held, when Ricciardo found himself out of a seat for the 2023 season campaign, his first love came to his rescue.

Daniel Ricciardo now stands married to the testing, simulator and promotional duties of the team while taking time for himself. The man was also seen involved in a lot of promotional gigs during the Australian GP, and the world was just happy to see the smile back.

Ricciardo grateful for the Red Bull opportunity

Talking of the signature Honey Badger smile, Christian Horner has gone on record to say that McLaren did him dirty by taking that away from Ricciardo. Don’t believe us? See the post-qualifying or post-race interview from the 2022 American Grand Prix. The dejected man, who was massively struggling in the Woking machine, looks unrecognizable.

However, back at Milton Keynes, the man is ecstatic.“The smile says it all. I’m truly excited to be coming back home to Oracle Red Bull Racing as their third driver in 2023,” said the very happy Australian, being back in the iconic Blue and Red racing suit. Sometimes you just have to pause no matter how great a driver you are, and when Dany took that decision there couldn’t have been a better place to recoup than his old motoring home, Red Bull.

How Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo Plans to Spend 2023 F1 Season

Ricciardo told the Beyond The Grid podcast, “But once I had the initial chats with Red Bull, when we really started to engage a little further, that’s when it was kind of like a lightbulb where I was like, ‘this is the only place for me, it’s perfect’.”

After finding that perfect place to let steam off during the livery launch in New York, he said he looked forward to not competing this year. With Liam Lawson as the official reserve driver for RB, Ricciardo will be concentrating on the commercial aspects of the brand. And while he didn’t get picked to take the RB show car around Bathhurt, no love seems lost there.

Watch This Story: Struggling ‘Honey Badger’ Daniel Ricciardo Once Dominated the Streets of Azerbaijan in Glorious 2017

In the same McLaren speech, he said, “If you want to stand on top from day one, then there’s nothing else to look forward to” and nothing fits his current situation better. You probably do need to take a few steps back to be able to make the go for the ultimate goal.