Daniel Ricciardo believes spending time away from Formula 1® could act as a "blessing in disguise" after seeing his chances of staying on the grid next year diminish.
Since McLaren announced an early termination of Ricciardo's contract in August, the Australian has seen several vacant seats filled ahead of next season.
Only Haas now has an empty seat on the grid for 2023, but Ricciardo is not interested in joining the team.
Ricciardo offered a reminder of his quality when he overcame a 10-second penalty to finish seventh at Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix, and believes the opportunity to reflect on his achievements may allow him to return stronger in 2024.
Looking ahead to the 2023 campaign when speaking to Sky Sports, Ricciardo acknowledged: "I can confidently say I won't be on the grid, behind a wheel.
"But I still want to be in the sport, I want to be working with a team, still with the ambition to be back on the grid in 2024.
"I feel like a bit of time away from a race seat will actually do me good, and then [I'll] try to rebuild something for 2024.
"The way the seasons are, it's pretty relentless, you don't really get a chance to rebuild.
"Everyone's different, but I truly believe that will be, in a way, a blessing in disguise for me. By doing less, I'll achieve more."
Ricciardo has been linked with a reserve role at Mercedes since conceding a seat was unlikely for next year, but the Silver Arrows' team principal Toto Wolff was giving nothing away when asked about a potential move.
"We very much like him; he's a great character," Wolff said. "But we are not in a position yet to decide who is going to do reserve and be third driver."
Fun in the sun. ☀️🇲🇽#MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/VLVKnSLC2S
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 31, 2022
