What Is The Future Of Daniel Ricciardo?

It can’t be said that life is truly all bad for someone who is actually not going to race anymore in Formula 1 where it stands at the moment. Things may not be hunky dory for him but life doesn’t suck all that much for the Perth-born former McLaren driver.

So how is that?

Well, believe it or not- but Daniel Ricciardo is going to get no fewer than $36 million in 2023 for not racing in the top tier of Motor-Racing: Formula 1.

In no uncertain terms, therefore, it means that life is a bed of roses for the most talented Australian driver in the world of Formula 1. That’s when Daniel Ricciardo is a part of the Red Bull line-up but not the one on the main racing grid albeit the talent that’s going to witness the action from the sidelines.

The USD 36 million can be, must be factored in after taking into account the combined package; one from having walked away from McLaren and the other from Red Bull that’s paying their latest ‘third driver.’

That said, a question must be asked. Can Daniel Ricciardo even complain?

Surely, not seeing one of the most naturally talented drivers on the grid is going to suck. After all, it’s the Grand Prix where Ricciardo belongs, isn’t it?

Moreover, racing and competing to win is what drives the races at the end of the day. But who would mind such a huge salary coming into one’s accounts, eh?

Famous Australian publication Drive.com.au had the following to report on the estimated salary of Daniel Ricciardo and it surely is a headturner:

The majority of the money – a reported $US22.2 million ($AU32.9 million) – will come from McLaren Racing as the severance pay for terminating his driving contact a year early.

The rest of his salary for the coming year – another estimated $US2.1 million ($AU3.1 million) – will be paid by Red Bull Racing as he becomes the team’s third driver and a Red Bull ambassador.

All of that said, truth is that Daniel Ricciardo must return to Formula 1. His true potential exists on the main race track, not away from it. That is where he has won all his 8 Grands prix, not in the role of a reserve driver.

For someone who is 33, Daniel Ricciardo isn’t getting any younger. Yet, at the same time, he isn’t an oldie yet.

He proved in 2022, which was such a despicable year for the Aussie that he had in him to bounce back, if only in patches. For instance, consider the fine drives at Australia and later, Singapore, where the former Toro Rosso driver produced respectable results in the form of his P6 and that P5, respectively.

While surely the failure at not coming to terms with the McLaren car would haunt him no end, truth also is that it’s not all over for the exceptionally popular Aussie; he remains, as on date, the only McLaren driver of the two to fetch a win for the Zak Brown-championed outfit.

Even as one will have to contend with the fact that 2022 was anything but a humdinger for the driver, Ricciardo finishing eleventh on 37 points, there’s still a glimpse of hope that he’d return in Red Bull racing overalls someday- or won’t he?