Formula 1 news: Daniel Ricciardo admits that moving to Red Bull from McLaren was a gamble
- Planet Sport writer
- 1 January 2023
Former McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo makes his long-awaited return to Red Bull in the 2023 season but will play an unfamiliar role in the background as the reserve driver.
The Australian was released from his contract with McLaren after three disappointing seasons and news the team had signed exciting young driver Oscar Piastri - interestingly also Australian.
That left him without a drive in F1 for the 2023 season and not a lot of options, hence the reason he made the call to go back to Red Bull as a reserve driver rather than leave Formula 1 altogether.
With Ricciardo having left Red Bull for what was then Renault in 2019, many feel like him going back as a reserve driver is proof he made the wrong decision and that he is going back with his tail between his legs.
"Obviously at the time I felt like it was right for me. I felt like I needed a change and I needed to kind of just remove myself a bit," he said.
"If I continued [with Red Bull], would that urge have grown? Would I have become, let's say, more curious or less happy, or whatever?
"It's not a sure thing that it would have been great if I stayed. I don't look back and say, 'man, I shouldn't have [left]'. But of course, I can be honest with myself and say, 'yeah, I took a little bit of a gamble on myself'."
