“It happened very quickly,” Ricciardo detailed as he narrates the panic he felt after…
Ricciardo’s exciting move to McLaren promised so much but unfortunately delivered very little, with the McLaren opting to cut ties with the eight-time race winner a year before his initial contract was due to expire.
The Aussie had options to remain on the F1 grid for the upcoming 2023 campaign, yet he ultimately decided to take a year away from the full glare of the spotlight and return “home” to Red Bull in a third driver role supporting Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in their efforts to bring more silverware back to Milton Keynes.
As part of Red Bull’s RB19 launch show in New York City, Ricciardo spoke to select media including PlanetF1.com and was asked about the process from leaving McLaren to finding his way back to Red Bull.
“It happened very quickly,” Ricciardo detailed as he narrates the panic he felt after…
“At first, it definitely wasn’t [on the cards to return to Red Bull],” Ricciardo said.
“At first it was probably a bit more a panic in a way. It’s like ‘oh my gosh, like what do I do? What do I do now? Like, what’s next? What does this mean?’ So it’s kind of all these panic thoughts.
“It’s something that, I guess like anything, if you’re not fully prepared for it, then it’s only if it catches you a little bit off guard and are a bit surprised.
“I wouldn’t say I went into a frenzy but [maybe] into a bit of a frenzy.
“I think after a month played out I was talking to some other teams. But I knew deep down I wasn’t really there.
“I was like, ‘am I just doing this to stay on the grid? Is it truly what I want?’ So then when I was more probably honest with myself, I actually thought I want a year off.
“That’s kind of like the light bulb and Red Bull is that place [for me].”
In terms of making the deal to return to Red Bull happen, Ricciardo said that was a rapid process.
“It happened very quickly,” Ricciardo detailed.
“We were both just like ‘this makes sense’. I think for me having some of that comfort, going back to a place that was familiar for me after obviously a difficult couple years…it got done very quickly. So as I said, it seemed very obvious once it hit us.”
