Daniel Ricciardo will attend select grands prix as Red Bull reserve driver for 2023 alongside simulator, tyre testing and commercial duties, says team principal Christian Horner.
Ricciardo signed with Red Bull as a third driver for 2023 after he was released from his McLaren contract a year early. He has previously driven for Red Bull teams AlphaTauri (originally known as Toro Rosso) and Red Bull’s senior team throughout his first seven full seasons in Formula 1.
Liam Lawson has been Red Bull’s reserve driver since July. He will continue in that role next year but will also race in Japan’s Super Formula series, meaning he will not be available to attend all rounds on the 2023 F1 calendar.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said that Ricciardo will take over reserve driver duties at select rounds in 2023. “Daniel will be attending some races where obviously he’ll be our reserve driver for those events,” he told Speedcafe.
“He’ll probably do a bit of tyre testing for us to help with the Pirelli programme that gets distributed around the teams. He’ll be doing some work in the simulator. He’ll be doing all of those activities and then of course with the commercial demands that we have from the myriad of sponsors and partners that we have – particularly with the much bigger presence in the US where Daniel is now predominantly based with three grands prix there next year – he’s going to have a busy agenda for the season ahead.”
Horner said Ricciardo had lost some of his “passion” for Formula 1 through his disappointing 2022 campaign with McLaren, but expects the driver’s return to Red Bull will help reignite his love for the sport. However, Horner insists the team have no plans to return him to one of their race seats at this stage.
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“We were surprised to see Daniel be out on the open market,” Horner said. “So for us – having grown up with Red Bull, having nurtured him since being a junior – it made sense for us to bring him back into the fold.
“I think that Daniel had fallen out of love a little bit with Formula 1. He’s had a couple of really tough seasons, particularly this year. For him to play a supporting role to the race drivers as our third driver, both back here at the factory and at events with all the commercial partners we have – as one of the most recognisable faces currently in and around Formula 1 – for us, it made a lot of sense.
“Hopefully in…
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