Is Daniel Ricciardo being too arrogant with his F1 2024 demands?

Daniel Ricciardo accepts that not wanting to simply go for “any seat” next season is a “risk”, given that he may end up missing out on a top drive.

The current Red Bull reserve driver has been open in his plans about getting back onto the grid in 2024, but he has also been clear that his priority is to focus on securing as competitive a seat as possible – not wanting to come back to Formula 1 simply to fight among the lower reaches of the points.

Ricciardo is known to have passed up the opportunity to have taken a drive with the likes of Haas for 2023, with Alpine also having considered a move for him before they opted to pick Pierre Gasly to partner Esteban Ocon.

The 33-year-old chose to take a year out of the limelight after two difficult seasons at McLaren overall, in the hope that some time away from the full-time cut and thrust of Formula 1 will allow him time to not just recover, but rediscover the motivation that made him one of the sport’s most highly-regarded drivers in the 2010s.

The eight-time race winner explained that he is not frightened by the prospect of not having many seats available to go for next season, particularly ones which would be of interest to him, while adding that his view is not him being “arrogant”, but simply that his experience is beyond starting from “scratch” again.

“It doesn’t scare me,” Ricciardo told Top Gear when asked about the scarcity of drives available for 2024.

“It’s always been like that. And I knew this was going to be a risk, obviously removing myself from a seat.

“But I think it’s clear what I don’t want. I don’t want [just] any seat next year, as much as I think I want to be racing again. I don’t want to just start from zero and kind of build my career from scratch.

“It’s not coming from an arrogant place, but I’m just past that. I don’t think that’s going to stimulate me or give me that second wind I’m looking for.

“So it makes the top seats even scarcer, but that’s where I know I will be able to perform at my best and thrive. That’s the sort of stuff I’m keeping my eyes on.”

PlanetF1.com recommends

When Kimi Raikkonen caught Daniel Ricciardo using the women’s toilet

‘The open secret’ about Lewis Hamilton’s potential Mercedes replacement

Is Daniel Ricciardo playing a dangerous game with this approach?

At face value, it is easy to see the reasoning behind Ricciardo wanting to hold out for the best drive he can find for 2024 and beyond.

After all, a multiple race winner with one of the most marketable personalities in Formula 1 is worth its weight to any team, but the harsh truth is the gamble anyone would take in bringing him in is whether or not they would get the Red Bull version of the Aussie or the McLaren one.

That’s not to say that Ricciardo didn’t have his stronger days in his time with McLaren, it was just that more often than not, Lando Norris was going even faster.

But while Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari have long been seen as the top dogs in Formula 1 and would be Ricciardo’s prime choices for a drive if a seat were to become available, Aston Martin have muscled in on the fight at the front this year, and for that reason, the rise and fall of other teams is a significant factor in why Ricciardo should not rule out moving elsewhere entirely.

There is no reason to say that other factory teams such as Alpine can make a step forward again, or if Sauber can make gains when they eventually transition into becoming Audi, or Haas’ technical affiliation with Ferrari can bear fruit by bringing them further forward – with the budget cap levelling the playing field in Formula 1 like never before.

On the flip-side to that, however, you can also understand Ricciardo’s want for immediate success if he did return to the grid as well, given the status he already holds in the sport, the age he now is and time being of the essence if he is to achieve his goal of becoming World Champion.

“I appreciate I might not have every opportunity under the sun, but I want to win,” Ricciardo said recently, as per Sky Sports. “I want to be back with a top team and obviously a team where I have my confidence back and my mojo.

“I think also that’s where, maybe when I look back that’s a weakness of mine, but in a way it’s a strength as I feel better at the front of the grid. I feel like I perform in those situations with a bit more pressure and a bit more emphasis on a podium.

“So to go back and try to put myself in just any seat or something that’s fighting at best for a top-10 finish, I don’t think that’s going to bring the best out of me.”

He feels relaxed about his current prospects, with the year still being young and ‘silly season’ still to fully kick off in earnest, but the eternal game of ‘musical chairs’ in Formula 1 has always been proof that drivers can never fully relax, because someone else will happily take a seat from under their noses before they know it.