{"id":241722,"date":"2022-10-01T00:08:07","date_gmt":"2022-10-01T00:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=241722"},"modified":"2022-10-01T10:57:20","modified_gmt":"2022-10-01T10:57:20","slug":"i-dont-see-myself-there-ricciardo-spills-f1-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=241722","title":{"rendered":"'I don't see myself there': Ricciardo spills F1 truth"},"content":{"rendered":"

It's Formula 1<\/a> or nothing. That's the message from McLaren<\/a> exile Daniel Ricciardo<\/a> as he weighs up his options for 2023.<\/p>\n

With every passing grand prix, the Australian's hopes of scoring a full-time drive next year appear slimmer and slimmer.<\/p>\n

While next year's grid is far from cemented, the best seats are taken and Ricciardo has indicated he has little to no interest in racing for any of the tail-end teams.<\/p>\n

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Williams and Haas both have openings, but rarely has Ricciardo's name been linked to a serious move with either.<\/p>\n

The more likely alternative at the moment appears to be a year on the sidelines and an alignment with a top team as its reserve driver.<\/p>\n

Mercedes<\/a> has been rumoured to have some interest in the 33-year-old, who was seen visiting the team's motor home on Friday at the Singapore Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

With Mercedes reserve driver Nyck De Vries reportedly on his way to AlphaTauri and Pierre Gasly supposedly shifting to Alpine, that would create a vacancy in the Silver Arrows' roster.<\/p>\n

Another alternative is a year spent racing in another category entirely.<\/p>\n

However, the Perth-born pilot said that's not on his radar for fears that once he's out of the Formula 1 paddock there's no getting back in.<\/p>\n

"I love other disciplines of motorsport, but I don't see myself there," Ricciardo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"I feel as well I jump into something like that and then it closes the door in F1. It kind of feels like I've checked out and I haven't.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I'm still very much driven towards remaining here, so I don't want the view to be 'ah he's focused on other things'.<\/p>\n

"That's what I've got to weigh up as well. As fun as those things might be, I think what's got to be best for me, and even the point of my image, is to remain in the sport.<\/p>\n

"It's very quick, I think, for people to see me do something else and be like 'that's now where his head's at? he's not coming back'. So yeah, I'm solely focused on F1."<\/p>\n

In many ways, it's a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't for Ricciardo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A year as a reserve driver is a year not spent racing. While an association with the likes of Mercedes or otherwise has some clout attached, very rarely do reserve drivers actually race.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Even in the COVID-19 era, De Vries and Stoffel Vandoore were reserve drivers for Mercedes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Lewis Hamilton fell ill with the virus, the team drafted George Russell in from Williams for the Sakhir Grand Prix instead.<\/p>\n

A year racing with a lesser team than McLaren would do little to help Ricciardo's stocks and might only condemn him to an eventual fade into obscurity.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the eight-time grand prix winner remains determined to succeed in Formula 1, and that mindset of having unfinished business remains at the forefront of his priorities.<\/p>\n

"My team is talking with pretty much everyone," Riccairdo said.<\/p>\n

"They're having conversations. So it's not that [teams] are not calling or they're not interested. The conversations of course are private.<\/p>\n

"But I will say that there is still a lot of goodness out there or positivity or compliments. I think a lot of people have been in this sport for years. They've seen how it works.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/McLarenF1\/status\/1512389178264375304<\/a><\/p>\n

"Of course, there's the saying 'you're only as good as your last race', but I think a lot of them have appreciated that it's not like I've forgotten how to do this.<\/p>\n

"Let's say I've had some nice words put towards me, which also fills me with confidence to still want to keep at it."<\/p>\n

There's no doubt within the Formula 1 paddock that given the right equipment Ricciardo could be a contender.<\/p>\n

However, the perfect storm has precluded him from being back in that position and a brutal end to his once glowing career could be nearer than first thought.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It's Formula 1 or nothing. That's the message from McLaren exile Daniel Ricciardo as he weighs up his options for 2023. With every passing grand […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241722"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=241722"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241724,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241722\/revisions\/241724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=241722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=241722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=241722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}