What Daniel Ricciardo’s cryptic Ford post could really mean

Daniel Ricciardo posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) for the first time in more than two months, and it was enough to whip fans up into a rumour frenzy.

Posing alongside pictures of the Ford Racing badge and a Raptor truck, fans have been left desperate to know what the eight-time F1 grand prix winner may be cooking up.

Daniel Ricciardo leaves us with Ford Racing cliffhanger

Ricciardo has been completely absent from the racing scene since losing his F1 seat. Going into the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, rumours were swirling that it was to be Ricciardo’s final race with Red Bull’s second team, Racing Bulls. That turned out to be true.

Since then, Ricciardo has not dabbled in any other form of racing, and on several occasions has suggested that he is done with Formula 1.

But, could something be on the cards between Ricciardo and Ford. The popular ex-F1 star has left fans wondering as he posted on X for the first time since 18 June. The left image is of the newly-minted Ford Racing badge, and on the right, a picture of their Ford Raptor high-performance truck, a vehicle which Ricciardo is known to admire greatly.

More around the corner… pic.twitter.com/Rg0szD9Q9K

— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) September 4, 2025

Naturally, some fans linked this to Ricciardo being in-line for a shock F1 2026 return with Red Bull.

Red Bull and Ford will debut their jointly-developed power unit next year as the new regulations take hold.

Such a reunion is, of course, extremely unlikely. Ricciardo’s Racing Bulls exit came after he failed to convince Red Bull that he was worthy of a recall to the team where he won seven grands prix. Plus, as previously mentioned, Ricciardo has strongly suggested he was not interested in a comeback.

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Ricciardo’s post though very well could indicate a motorsport comeback, as it coincides with a major rebrand from Ford.

On the same day as Ricciardo’s post, Ford announced that its ‘Ford Performance’ competition arm was to revert to ‘Ford Racing’. The firm announced that this was a move to ‘tear down the wall between our race teams and the engineering of the vehicles you drive every day on and off road’.

Could Ricciardo be about to get behind the wheel of the Raptar for the 2026 Dakar Rally? Or the Baja 1000 maybe?

The caption of Ricciardo’s post reads: ‘More around the corner…’ So, watch this space!

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