Daniel Ricciardo is open to the possibility of taking on a reserve role rather than a driver seat in the 2023 Formula 1 season.
The eight-time Grand Prix winner will end his underwhelming association with McLaren at the end of this season with an early termination, having joined the team for Renault in 2021.
Ricciardo has only managed 19 points across 16 races this season, having scored 115 last year with victory at the Italian Grand Prix, although he generally struggled to adjust to the McLaren car.
The former Red Bull driver’s future in the sport is a hot topic but he remains without a seat despite several drivers shuffling and Sebastian Vettel opting to retire.
“Let’s say my headspace is in the same space,” Ricciardo said. “I’m still keen to be part of F1 and of course, ‘Plan A’ would be to be on the grid.
“So nothing’s changed but I don’t want to just jump at the first kind of seat available.
“I know the landscape probably changes as well at the end of next year, with contracts and whatever, so I don’t want to say remaining patient, but remaining open.”
The idea of Ricciardo becoming a reserve driver for Mercedes has been speculated.
“It’s certainly something that’s realistic, yeah,” he said. “That’s the two realistic options. It’s not to be anywhere else.
“I love other disciplines of motorsport but I don’t see myself there. I feel as well if I jump into something like that, and then it closes the door on F1. It kind of feels like I’ve checked out, and I haven’t. So I’m solely focused on F1.
“My team is talking with, I want to say, pretty much everyone, or they’re having conversations, so we’re just trying to put it all together and figure out what makes the most sense.
“So it’s not that they’re not calling or they’re not interested, I know that sounds I’m not coming from a place of overconfidence, but we’re just doing our due diligence and figuring out what’s best.
“I’m trying to kind of see beyond next year, for me of course I want to be racing but I also don’t want to just look at the next 12 months and not look at the next 24.”
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