Daniel Ricciardo says he’s not sure if racing in one other sequence would carry him the achievement he craves that was missing with out having the ability to battle for prime leads to Formulation 1.
Pink Bull introduced on Thursday that it has dropped Ricciardo in favor of Liam Lawson for the rest of the 2024 season, with no suggestion the Australian might be within the body for a spot on the F1 grid in 2025. Talking earlier than his future was formally confirmed, Ricciardo admitted he has thought of different racing classes up to now and might be with the F1 door closed, though he has nothing particular in thoughts.
“IndyCar nonetheless scares me!” Ricciardo mentioned. “I imply, I’ve considered it as a result of I additionally considered it a few years in the past after I knew that I wasn’t going to begin the ’23 season. I don’t know. I do know I’m nonetheless a competitor. I do know I nonetheless have numerous hearth in me. Perhaps that itch is scratched doing one thing else, I don’t know. We’ll see.
“It’s arduous. Even speaking about being within the sport [F1] and combating for even a tenth place every so often… It’s possibly the identical with doing one other sequence, and no disrespect to different sequence — I’m a fan of NASCAR and numerous different types of motorsport — however as a result of I’ve been there and skilled the very best of highs, will I get true achievement doing one thing else?
“No assure I’ll be superior doing one thing else. Is that truly going to scratch the itch and provides me what I would like? I don’t know. I’d most likely say extra no than sure.”
Nevertheless, whereas Ricciardo might be weighing up his curiosity in racing in different classes now that his future has been confirmed, he says his temporary spell away from full-time F1 after leaving McLaren means he has no worry of a life exterior the game.
“Oh, exterior racing, yeah [there’s fulfilling interests]. As a result of I’ve already skilled a little bit of it, I don’t have a worry of not swiping into the paddock. I’ve beloved it and it’s nice, however I’ve additionally happily made associates with different athletes through the years which have been in the same place. What does form of part two of life appear like?
“I feel there’s so much to do, numerous alternatives. It’s not something I’m afraid of.”