Daniel Ricciardo’s hopes of returning to a race seat at Red Bull in 2025 appear to be fading with each passing race, but the Aussie admits that he would be quite happy to remain with RB in 2025.
Ricciardo’s game plan called for the Faenza-based squad to serve as a springboard to revive his F1 career and propel him back to Red Bull.
But the 34-year-old’s 2024 campaign has so far struggled to get off the ground in the first four races of the season, during which Ricciardo has been comprehensively outpaced by his RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
While Ricciardo hasn’t downgraded his ambitions for this season, his slow start inevitably calls into question his Red Bull endgame.
Pressed on the issue, he admits that remaining with RB next year is an option that would make him happy.
“As I feel today, yes,” Ricciardo told Australian website Speedcafe. “I'm enjoying the driving now; it's not so much result-driven.
“Obviously, I don't want to just be here to be here; I want to earn that seat and the team is hopefully further up.
“So yeah, I guess it goes both ways. I mean, the answer is yes.”
While his response perhaps equates to a silent recognition that a drive with Red Bull in 2025 is no longer within his reach, Ricciardo insists that he still aspires to be fighting at the upper level of the grid on Sundays.
“Is it more fun fighting at the front? Is it more fun fighting for podiums and wins? Absolutely,” he said.
“And the truth is, if I draw a line under it and I speak about myself in the third person: ‘Why did Daniel Ricciardo return after a few months off last year?’ Because I believe I can stand on the podium again. I can win races again.
“Ultimately, that is it. The belief is there… As long as that belief is still there, I think I'll be happy being here.
“But when I eventually do hang it up, I would love to have stood on the podium a few more times.”
In the interim, Ricciardo needs a good result – sooner rather than later – to strengthen his prospects. And Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes that it will only take “one good result in the bag” to kickstart the Aussie’s momentum.
“His team-mate is delivering and that naturally then puts pressure on you,” Horner acknowledged.
“But he's been there before. I'm sure he'll bounce back. Daniel's a big boy, he's been around, he's been around the block. He knows how things work.
“And I think that he just needs to get a good result in the bag, and then that smile will return.”
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