Daniel Ricciardo Open to Racing Return After Bitter F1 Exit
Image: AI-generated illustration for Gearvoniq
Daniel Ricciardo has revealed he is open to a racing return, telling Formula 1's Beyond The Grid podcast that a one-off appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours now appeals to him — potentially alongside former Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen. It marks a striking shift for the 37-year-old Australian, who had previously believed his F1 exit after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix had closed his competitive career for good.
Key Takeaways: - Ricciardo admits his Racing Bulls exit left him "very bitter towards the idea of anything racing," and says he spent months hiding deep pain and sadness. - Solo travel, hiking and time away helped repair his relationship with motorsport; a visit to the Indianapolis 500 this year reignited his love as a fan. - A full championship does not interest him, but a one-off Le Mans entry would offer closure "on my terms." - He named Max Verstappen as a dream co-driver and joked Sebastian Vettel would be welcome too, but stressed there is no confirmed plan.
A Painful Goodbye at Singapore
Ricciardo's final Formula 1 race came at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, after which Racing Bulls replaced him with Liam Lawson. Speaking in the emotional podcast interview, the eight-time grand prix winner made clear how badly the ending hurt. "The last time I put a helmet on was in Singapore, and such a love of my life, racing, kind of ended, and the taste it left in my mouth about it all, I don't like that," he said, as reported by Motorsport-NextGen. "I was very bitter towards the idea of anything racing after that."
He went further in the same interview, describing the experience as a sense of personal failure. "It's then a sense of humiliation, like I failed and I didn't do what I once could," Ricciardo said, according to The Sporting Base. "Trying to deal with those next few months, I understood it as I was just hiding from the humiliation. People saw me out in public. I was having a good time and having a drink or whatever, and I was just really hiding from what I really felt deep inside, which was a lot of pain and sadness."
Ricciardo, whose 15-year F1 career from 2011 produced eight wins, 32 podiums and 257 starts, also admitted he had wanted to walk away more than once — including after the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix — and feared he might have kept going indefinitely had his contracts kept being extended. "I still don't like how it ended, but there's also a part of me which is grateful that they pulled the trigger because I wouldn't want to be doing it now," he said, per The Sporting Base.
Time Away Rebuilt the Relationship
Rather than jumping straight into another series, Ricciardo deliberately stepped away from the paddock. Solo travel and hiking gave him space that the relentless F1 schedule never allowed, and slowly his feelings about racing began to change.
"I'm at a place now where I think, yeah, my relationship with driving slash racing is healthier than it was," he told Beyond The Grid, adding that he holds a role as a Ford Racing ambassador during his time out of the cockpit.
A pivotal moment came earlier this year with a visit to the Indianapolis 500 in May, where he attended purely as a spectator. "I didn't think I would like it as much," he admitted. "Being a fan again, I think, reminded me that I do love motorsports," as reported by Motorsport-NextGen and 7NEWS. After confirming last year that he considered himself retired from racing for good, according to Crash.net, the door is now visibly open again.
Image: AI-generated illustration for Gearvoniq
Why a One-Off Le Mans Appeals
Ricciardo was clear about what kind of return would interest him: not a season-long grind, but a single, special event. "The thought of just doing a full championship or something just still doesn't really sound that exciting. But like a one-off Le Mans type thing," he said.
The appeal lies partly in the contrast with F1's internal rivalries. Endurance racing means sharing a car with team-mates rather than fighting them. "To share a car with other drivers and to actually have real team-mates to share data and help out," Ricciardo explained. "I would just enjoy it. It would be the form of driving and companionship that I would really enjoy," per The Track Hub.
Underlying it all is the desire for a happier ending. "It'd be nice to also, for me, to finish a racing career a bit more on my terms," he said. "So to do something that, when I take the helmet off, I'm smiling and happy, and maybe that's the last bit of closure I need." He added the important caveat that any return must be for the right reasons: "I would love to have a nicer ending but I need to make sure that it's for the right reasons and I'm not just doing it to create a fairytale and to have the last line in the book that has a smile and not sadness," The Sporting Base reported.
Image: AI-generated illustration for Gearvoniq
A Verstappen Reunion? "Give the People What They Want"
When asked who his dream co-driver would be for a Le Mans outing, Ricciardo didn't hesitate. "I don't want to put pressure on him, but obviously Max is a name that would be high on the list," he said. The pair spent two years as Red Bull team-mates between 2016 and 2018 before Ricciardo departed for Renault, and the prospect of a reunion clearly excites him. "We talked about Red Bull obviously in 2018 and 'what if'... So maybe that's a way that we could, yeah, I say give the people what they want," Crash.net reported.
Another former team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, was also floated, prompting one of Ricciardo's trademark responses: "Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit. That'd be cool," according to RacingNews365.
Crucially, as Grandprix.com noted, there is currently no confirmed entry, no date and no agreement with Verstappen — this remains a tantalising possibility rather than a plan. "If it's right and things align and it feels right and obviously I'm there again for the right reasons, then maybe I won't say never," Ricciardo said.
Image: AI-generated illustration for Gearvoniq
Our Take
Ricciardo's candour is what makes this interview resonate: few elite athletes speak this openly about humiliation and hidden sadness. That he can now contemplate racing again speaks to genuine healing rather than restlessness. A Le Mans entry with Verstappen would be box office — but even if it never materialises, Ricciardo has already found the closure that matters most: remembering he loves motorsport again.
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