The F1® Insider: Ricciardo learning, not losing, from sideline stint

Daniel Ricciardo was one part sheepish, the other part lost. The ever-smiling Australian was in a good mood at his home Grand Prix on Friday – given the reception he's received at every turn, it'd be hard not to be – but his brow suddenly featured an unusual furrow as opening practice started.

There was a spare stool on the Red Bull Racing pit wall for him, but after not being trackside in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia, Ricciardo needed to be shown which one to sit in. It seemed a touch ridiculous but was completely explainable.

Before this weekend's FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2023, the last time Ricciardo had been at an F1® race weekend and not turned a lap was way back in 2011, the European Grand Prix at the long-forgotten Valencia street circuit that preceded his debut at Silverstone a fortnight later. It was a physical reminder of what Ricciardo's 2023 will be like, one where everything appears familiar, yet in reality, is very different in his new guise as Red Bull Racing's third driver.

After his exit from McLaren a year earlier than planned, Ricciardo's decision list for 2023 is long and not that clear. Do I want to return to F1®? If I do, under what circumstances? Is it enough just to be on the grid, or does sitting out rekindle my competitive fire? And countless other conundrums that will come up as his most recent race, Abu Dhabi 2022, fades further into the rearview.

Ricciardo took to the Fan Forum Stage at Albert Park on Saturday in front of a packed, enthusiastic throng that occupied every spare blade of grass, huddled together in their adulation for one of the sport's most popular drivers – with the side benefit of staying warmer on a grey-skied day that abruptly signified the start of autumn in Melbourne.

After getting himself loose by kicking a few signed miniature footballs into the sea of smiling faces, the 33-year-old wouldn't go as far as admitting to missing being on his home Grand Prix™ grid this year but, tellingly, didn't expect that sentiment to last.

"I'm happy to be watching from afar and also learning a little bit, having a wide-view lens," Ricciardo said of 2023.

"I'm good with it, but I think it's a matter of time before I'm no longer good with it.

"I think moving into this role this year feels really right. I really felt like I needed this year to take a step back. Going back to the Red Bull family, everything's forming up to be something really nice. I think that everything happens for a reason, and that's where I'm at right now – in a comfortable place."

After his three-year contract with McLaren ended with a whimper and a year early, Ricciardo still feels taking a year out – while staying ready and relevant – was the best course of action, despite missing being on the grid for his home race for the first time since 2012 with Scuderia Toro Rosso.

"Every year you start there's a new car, there's new hope and new optimism – but I know that nothing's guaranteed in the sport," he explained.

"If it was to be another difficult year, especially for me as an individual, I know that would probably drive me that step further away from the sport. I was certainly in fear of losing the love for it."

Learning more about the team he left to go to Renault for the 2019 season – even if some of that learning is as basic as which stool to sit on when he watches others drives in lieu of driving himself – is enough for the short term, he says. After that? It's too early to know or say – and verbalising that the door remains open to a return gave the crowd the answer their volume and presence craved.

"I don't feel done," he said.

"Right now it feels OK, but I don't feel like this sideline life is going to be forever."