"I’m not kind of seeing next year as all or nothing"- Daniel Ricciardo hints of taking an F1 break in 2023 season

Daniel Ricciardo recently suggested that he might take a break in the 2023 season after ending his contract with McLaren, as suspicions about his seat for the season keep growing. According to Ricciardo, he wouldn't mind taking a break and coming back in 2024 with double the preparations. He says that he wants to be "competitive" and on the grid.

As of now, there have only been rumors about him being on any of the teams on the grid. Ricciardo seems to be aware of it, as he said:

“Could it still happen? It could. I guess I’m not getting too caught up in next year. Of course I want to race, I want to be on the grid, I want to be competing. . . But I’m not kind of seeing next year as all or nothing. Obviously 2024 is something I want to be aware of and look at.”

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Daniel Ricciardo wishes to be with a competitive team

It was recently revealed that Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren had agreed to terminate his contract on mutual grounds. This was primarily due to the racer's deteriorating performance. Otherwise, Ricciardo was supposed to be with them until the end of the 2023 season. Much has happened since this announcement was made, with one of them being Oscar Piastri getting signed as his replacement in 2023. Piastri had previously canceled an apparent deal with Alpine.

Although he has not been performing well, Daniel Ricciardo earlier stated that he would want to be with a competitive enough team in the 2023 season, and he would rather take a break than just be in a team “for the sake of it.” The racer noted:

"Obviously this year’s been challenging and if I am on the grid I want to know that it’s a place that I can enjoy it and feel like I can thrive. I don’t want to just jump into a car for the sake of it."

When the chances of not being on the grid were mentioned, he had stated that he had accepted it, and would be perfectly okay with the same:

"I've certainly accepted if I'm not to be on the grid next year, I'm okay with that."

There were talks about Daniel Ricciardo moving to Alpine or Haas for the upcoming season. However, it seems that Alpine has recently become more interested in Pierre Gasly from AlphaTauri, and to replace him, Nyck de Vries has been a target for the team. Haas, at the same time, stated that the Australian's performance has not been “constant,” which could make the team suffer.

Although there is less hope of Daniel Ricciardo being on the grid, Williams driver Nicholas Latifi recently announced that he would be parting ways with the team after this season, which opens up new possibilities for Ricciardo.