Former McLaren driver Mark Blundell holds grave fears for Daniel Ricciardo’s future in Formula One and doesn’t believe the Aussie will have “an open door” for him to return to the grid.
Ricciardo signed on as Red Bull’s reserve driver for the 2023 season after he was bought out of his deal with McLaren one year before the contract was up and was replaced by Aussie rookie Oscar Piastri.
There were opportunities for the 33-year-old to have a spot on the grid this year, although it likely would have been with Haas or Williams, two teams who struggled in 2022.
The only chance Ricciardo will have to race this year is if either Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez is unable to compete, but other than that, it will be a year spent on the sidelines.
And Blundell believes a return to the grid in 2024 won’t be as easy as the eight-time Grand Prix winner might think.
“I’m not sure that the situation is that he wanted to stay away, I think there’s maybe a bigger story behind whether, firstly, the seat was available to him,” Blundell told Planet F1.
“Secondly, was it actually viable for him to go and get on the grid? It may be a team that wasn’t going to be as strong as what he would like. Sitting out the year comfortably, yes, okay, it gives him some downtime. But, I think it’s still going to be quite hard for him to pick himself up and get back on the grid again in a team that he will feel is deserving of what he needs performance-wise.
“He’s got to do the work, I don’t think it’s going to be an open door for him to come back on the grid easily, he’s gonna have to prove himself and work at it.”
As it stands, there are going to be very few spots available at the teams running at the front of the grid in 2024 should Ricciardo be eyeing up a seat with them next year.
The only vacancy at the moment would be with Mercedes given Lewis Hamilton’s deal with the Silver Arrows expires at the conclusion of the 2023 season, although talks have commenced between the driver and team over an extension of his deal.
Outside of Mercedes, Aston Martin also has a vacancy but given Lance Stroll’s father owns the team, it seems a no-brainer he will stay.
Seats are also set to open at Alfa Romeo, Haas, AlphaTauri and Williams.
