Asked to give up his place to Liam Lawson for the last six Grands Prix of the 2024 season, Daniel Ricciardo has little chance of appearing on the grid for the Formula 1 World Championship in 2025. And even of remaining in the paddock, since the The Australian himself suggested that he was not interested in a reservist position. So where could he bounce back?
Follow the winds of Hypercar in WEC
The most popular motorsport discipline at the moment, outside of Formula 1, is Endurance. More specifically, the Hypercar category of the FIA WEC. With a plethora of prestigious manufacturers, it has become a place of choice for a driver and many former Formula 1 players are already there. Among the most recent, Antonio Giovinazzi (Ferrari), Nyck de Vries (Toyota) and Mick Schumacher (Alpine) have found refuge there, but the list is long: Sébastien Buemi, Kamui Kobayashi, Brendon Hartley (Toyota), Jenson Button, Will Stevens (Hertz Team JOTA), Daniil Kvyat (Lamborghini), Robert Kubica (AF Corse), Jean-Eric Vergne, Paul di Resta and Stoffel Vandoorne (Peugeot) have all driven in Formula 1.
Ricciardo could also take an example from his compatriot Mark Webber, who played three full seasons of the FIA World Endurance Championship with Porsche after losing his F1 seat at Red Bull to… Ricciardo. If the current manager of Oscar Piastri has never added the 24 Hours of Le Mans to his record, he won the world title in LM P1 in 2015, associated with Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley. The native of Perth (Australia) also attended the 2016 6 Hours of Bahrain as a spectator, for what was Mark Webber’s last race before his retirement.
The Hypercar could be a great option to bounce back in 2025. If it seems difficult to find a regular seat in one of the cars from one of the manufacturers which occupy the first three places in the championship, namely Porsche, Ferrari and Toyota, others could be interested in its services. A good place to go to present your CV would be Aston Martin. The English brand will enter the WEC Hypercar category in 2025 with two examples of an LMH version of its Valkyrie. In 2017, the Honey Badger had also expressed the wish to one day acquire the hypercar from the Gaydon firm to add it to its collection. It would be a great opportunity.
IndyCar for its love of the USA
Given Daniel Ricciardo’s particular attraction to the United States and American-style car racing, IndyCar could also be an interesting base for the Australian. However, Ricciardo admitted in the Singapore paddock that American-style single-seater racing causes him some worry, mainly on oval tracks:
« IndyCar still scares me. I thought about it a while ago, when I knew I wasn’t going to drive in F1 in 2023, but I don’t know. I know I’m still a competitor. I know I still have a lot of determination in me, but maybe I could satisfy it by doing something else. »
If the ovals remain a critical point for the native of Perth, he could however decide to discover IndyCar via races on road and urban circuits, as Romain Grosjean did in 2021. The French driver could also make a teammate of choice for Ricciardo, given that a second season with Juncos Hollinger Racing seems more than likely for the former Lotus driver, who does not yet know the name of his teammate.
A drive within Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing could also be a good alternative, the American team being far from being competitive on ovals, but having a package in rather good shape on road and urban circuits. Christian Lundgaard, leaving for Arrow McLaren, had notably proven this by winning the Toronto event in 2023. An arrival with Dale Coyne would certainly condemn Ricciardo to the bottom of the peloton, while the second PREMA seat is for the moment officially to be filled, but it should go to Robert Shwartzman.
NASCAR to follow in the footsteps of Dale Earnhardt
A big fan of NASCAR, Ricciardo could finally be tempted by one or other freelance work in the most popular championship across the Atlantic. The one who chose the number 3 in Formula 1 in homage to the legendary Dale Earnhardt (seven-time Cup Series champion), who died following an accident on the last lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001, to discover the championship via PROJECT91 of Trackhouse Racing. This project, initiated by Justin Marks, invites international drivers to one or more rounds of the championship, as was the case with Kimi Räikkönen at Watkins Glen in 2022 and in Austin in 2023, while Shane van Gisbergen managed to impose himself at the wheel of the No. 91 Chevrolet in his first attempt in NASCAR, in Chicago last year.
Finally, let’s mention Supercars. The flagship discipline of Australian motorsport would benefit from a fantastic publicity boost to see one of his country’s star drivers come and compete in even one race on its calendar. Ricciardo himself recently made an appeal on this subject, in particular to ride on the legendary Bathurst track: “ If a V8 team asked me if I wanted to do a few laps at Bathurst, without pressure, to experience it, then I would definitely accept. » The message got through.
With Michaël Duforest
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