Ricciardo still believes in Red Bull seat for 2025

Visa Cash RB driver Daniel Ricciardo insists he still pins hopes on getting another chance to race alongside Max Verstappen before the end of his Formula 1 career.

Daniel Ricciardo spent the opening stages of last season on the sidelines, fulfilling the role of the reserve driver at Red Bull Racing. After the then AlphaTauri outfit elected to oust Nick de Vries, the Australian was called in for the Hungarian Grand Prix, receiving the opportunity to come back after spending just over half a year without a race seat.

Unfortunately, the eight-time F1 race winner sustained injuries to his arm during a practice crash at the Dutch Grand Prix. It forced him to miss several races, but he managed to return and see out the closing stages of the season as a team-mate of Yuki Tsunoda.

The Perth-born driver has had an up-and-down season so far in 2024, but a chassis change at the Shanghai race seemingly turned things around, helping Ricciardo achieve more convincing results.

With Sergio Perez having struggled for pace, the Mexican's seat has been hanging in the balance for several months. Asked whether he eyes the second seat alongside reigning champion Max Verstappen, Ricciardo noted: “Yeah. I’m not going to give a diplomatic answer. Of course, I would.”

“I know I need to earn it. It’s not just going to be handed to me but if I earned it and the chance was there, of course, I’d love to do it. So we’ll see.”

“Is any of it a reality? I would say no, until it is. But it can change. Even after Canada, and there were some things going on that weekend, and I was under some pressure, I had a good weekend.”

“All of a sudden, ‘Oh yeah, he’s back’. But then if you don’t perform the next weekend, it’s back to square one. So it’s weekend by weekend at this rate. Do I want to be great every weekend? Sure. I am fully motivated, I’m fully focused,” he said.

Speaking of his approach to the current situation, Ricciardo has revealed that he is treating it like it would be his very last chance at the pinnacle of motorsport.

“I appreciate that I don’t know if I’ve got one year left, five years left, so I’m treating it like it is truly my last chance.”

“I don’t want to hang the helmet up and be like, damn, I should have spoken up when I should have, I should have done that differently. So I’m in a good place because I’m comfortable within myself and I’m comfortable with the approach I’m taking and going all in.”