Daniel Ricciardo shares news about his comeback to F1 after being away for two years
Daniel Ricciardo has shared some news about possibly coming back to Formula 1—or motorsport in general—after being away for two years.
The Australian last raced for Racing Bulls during the 2024 season but was dropped after the Singapore Grand Prix. In his final race, he set the fastest lap after a late pit stop, which upset McLaren’s boss Zak Brown. He claimed Red Bull let Ricciardo, part of their junior team, steal the fastest lap point from Lando Norris, who was battling Max Verstappen for the championship.
After that race, Ricciardo said goodbye to everyone in the paddock and was replaced by Liam Lawson, who stayed with Racing Bulls for the rest of 2024. Lawson was then promoted to Red Bull for 2025, but Racing Bulls chose Isack Hadjar as the second driver alongside Yuki Tsunoda. Just two races into the season, Lawson and Tsunoda swapped seats, leaving Hadjar as the new teammate to Verstappen for 2026.
It looks like Ricciardo’s F1 career is probably over. But at 36, he’s only a year older than Nico Hulkenberg was when he returned to F1 with Haas in 2023. Since leaving, Ricciardo has become a brand ambassador for Ford, who work with Red Bull on their F1 engines—so he’s still connected to the sport in some way.
Next weekend, Ricciardo will be at the Indianapolis 500, one of the biggest single-seater races in the US. Some former F1 drivers like Marcus Ericsson, Romain Grosjean, Mick Schumacher, and Takuma Sato might race if they qualify. Also, stars like Alex Palou and Scott McLaughlin have been mentioned as possible future F1 drivers. Ricciardo is just going as a fan this time, but he hasn’t completely closed the door on racing.
That said, he says he prefers to stay away from F1 for now, calling the schedule “far from normal” after having some time off. He told the Speed Street podcast, “I’m really enjoying not competing right now and just appreciating the little things in life. I don’t have to be on a stage all the time.”
He’s not sure what he’ll want in a few years but said if he did come back, it would be more for fun than chasing a championship. He added, “Having goals gives you purpose, like getting up and hitting the gym, but sometimes it also takes away the joy.”
Being in F1 for so long, the intense and tightly packed schedule felt normal to him, but now that he’s outside the sport, he realizes how demanding it really was.
Ricciardo is curious about the Indy 500 week, wondering how drivers balance personal time with race time, and whether they’re relaxed or super focused during the weekend. He’s especially interested in the size of the infield and the sound of the cars, which always attracted him to racing. He said, “I’m really curious to hear the cars wide open and see how scary Turn 1 looks.”