Daniel Ricciardo looks set to spend his 2023 season on the sidelines, possibly as a back-up for either Mercedes or Red Bull. But Jolyon Palmer says the Aussie's third driver ambitions are "strange".
When the checkered flag drops in Abu Dhabi next week, Ricciardo will close his disappointing chapter with McLaren, but his final race of 2022 hopefully won't spell the end of his career in Formula 1.
Ricciardo's strong performance last time out in Mexico City where he finished seventh proved that there's still an abundance of skills and speed in the old Honey Badger.
In Mexico, many interpreted Ricciardo's form and his ebullient body language during the weekend as a sign that the 33-year-old's wish of remaining in the paddock in 2023, albeit as a super-sub, had perhaps been granted.
©McLaren
"I'm surprised he's smiling all that much about that, to be honest," Palmer said, speaking on this week's F1 Nation podcast.
"The Daniel Ricciardo that we know and love is the guy that is there racing in the way that he did in Mexico, and he's charging through the field and he's chucking in some lunges.
"He loves the wheel-to-wheel racing of it, and it was so good to see a spring in his step after that Grand Prix.
"I think it'll be really important to him that he goes out with these next two [races] in that tone because then, when you've got a year on the sidelines, you can think back to that and not your terrible nine months before.
"But the third driver thing is strange to me."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff recently hinted at a potential opening for Ricciardo at the Brackley squad as a reserve candidate.
Should the Aussie's nomination in such a role come to pass, Damon Hill speculated on Ricciardo's chances of filling Lewis Hamilton's seat at the end of 2023, should the Briton decide to retire from the sport.
That’s an unlikely prospect based on Hamilton's comments. But Palmer is unsure Mercedes would call upon Ricciardo to succeed the Briton should the latter decide to call it a day.
"If Lewis does suddenly retire at the end of next year, having won the title, I don't think you are [looking at a situation where Ricciardo would get the seat]," Palmer commented.
"Let's face it; McLaren aren't putting him in, Alpine didn't want him. Are Mercedes, at the top end, fighting for titles, going to want to put him in at the end of the two years that he's had? I don't think so…
"So I think the way that he rebuilds his career from here is to be on the grid and get results, because you can't get results as a third driver," added the former F1 driver.
"That's the really frustrating thing of it."
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