A decision has been made regarding Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 comeback in a recent vote offered to GPFans’ audience.
The Australian will start 2025 without a seat in the premier motorsport category after being dismissed from VCARB in September of the previous year.
Ricciardo, who is teaming up with Yuki Tsunoda, has been open about his ambition to secure a position with Red Bull. He first gained recognition in F1 while driving for the Milton Keynes-based team early in his career.
The 35-year-old’s dream seemed on the verge of becoming reality halfway through last season, as the eight-time race winner was strongly favored to take over for a struggling Sergio Perez for the rest of the campaign.Team boss Christian Horner decided to give the Mexican driver an opportunity to regain his form.
Meanwhile, Ricciardo’s inability to enhance his performance at RB resulted in him being replaced by Liam Lawson.Since then, Lawson has secured the coveted Red Bull seat alongside defending drivers’ champion Max Verstappen, while Ricciardo’s future remains uncertain.
Since leaving F1, he has received numerous offers as racing executives worldwide are eager to sign the popular driver.This isn’t the first instance where the 35-year-old has had to step away from the sport; he was also sidelined at the beginning of the 2023 season after his exit from McLaren left him without a seat.
Ricciardo agreed to take on the position of Red Bull’s third driver, eventually making his return in July that year by stepping in for Nyck de Vries at Alpha Tauri.A recent GPFans poll has determined that the Dutchman’s removal—after not scoring a point in his initial 10 F1 races—is considered the harshest decision in the history of the sport.
It was revealed that 47% of fans considered Ricciardo’s return and De Vries’ dismissal to be the most ruthless, while Pierre Gasly’s sacking from Red Bull in favor of Alex Albon back in 2019 came second with 38% of the votes.
