Ricciardo set for F1 return in July at Silverstone
Daniel Ricciardo will be back behind the wheel of an F1 car at Silverstone next July, with the Aussie assigned to a Pirelli tyre test by Red Bull Racing.
After parting ways with McLaren at the end of last season, Ricciardo was signed up by Red Bull as a third driver for 2023.
Unfortunately, Formula 1's current restriction on in-season testing deprives teams' reserve drivers of track time.
However, Ricciardo has already logged in many hours of simulator mileage at Milton Keynes as he supports the team's efforts and the development programme for its RB19.
But the 33-year-old will revert to the real world this summer when he gets a chance to sample Red Bull's dominant car.
"I’ve been in the simulator, but I will drive the RB19 in July after the Silverstone race – I’m getting a Pirelli test," Ricciardo confirmed in an interview with ESPN.
"Then maybe I’ll get another one after Monza as well in September. A couple of months away [and] I’ll get to feel what it’s like."
Ricciardo admitted there's a sense of anticipation running through his veins, and the adrenaline will likely be pumping when he returns to where he belongs: in the cockpit of an F1 car.
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"I’m certainly excited to drive a fast car, but also a car that maybe still feels familiar for me – it does a little bit in the sim," he added.
"But I’m just excited to drive again and to just try to remind a team obviously I once had a lot of success with that I can still turn a fast lap."
While living his year away from the sport to the full, Ricciardo doubts his sabbatical will extend beyond this season as the thought of reuniting in 2024 with the thrill of pushing his skills to the limit and battling wheel-to-wheel with his competitors is now firmly implanted in his mind.
"I’m definitely still in like a really good place – I’m very happy with this," he said.
"Does it mean that I’m happy doing this for the next two or three years? Probably not. But I think for this year it’s certainly a good thing for me.
Daniel Ricciardo in Miami last weekend with girlfriend Heidi Berger.
"I do want to… Right now, I do want to get back on the grid next year. I do feel like there’s certainly some unfinished business. I’m staying like in the loop and staying prepared and whatever.
"I’m also ticking a few boxes that if I do get back on the grid next year, and I’m on the grid for the next, whatever, five years, for example, maybe there’s things that I won’t get a chance to do.
"I want to tick some boxes for myself for like some self-fulfilment.
"The New York marathon got mentioned. I had a few friends run it last year and I was like, ‘That looks pretty cool’.
"There’s these sort of things that I’m thinking about and obviously in a regular season I wouldn’t get the chance to do, so I kind of want to put myself out there and do some things like that this year."
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