15/05/2023
NEWS STORY
Daniel Ricciardo has revealed that he will drive Red Bull's 2023 title challenger in a Pirelli tyre test at Silverstone following the British Grand Prix.
To date, the Australian's testing duties with the team he returned to in November, having been dropped by McLaren, have been restricted to the simulator, but in July he will get to try the car that has won all five Grands Prix thus far this season, for real.
"I've been in the simulator, but I will drive the RB19 in July after the Silverstone race, I'm getting a Pirelli test," he tells ESPN.
"Then maybe I'll get another one after Monza as well in September," he adds. "A couple of months away and I'll get to feel what it's like.
"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. 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."
Other than his simulator work, Ricciardo, who remains fiercely popular with fans as a result of his high profile in Drive to Survive, has been involved in promotional work, and while his true commitment to returning to the grid in 2024 appears in doubt, some fans admitting disappointment at his decision to attend the recent Met Gala, an event he has previously mocked, he insists that he is as committed as ever.
"I'm definitely still in like a really good place, I'm very happy with this," he says of his current role. "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.
"Right now, I want to get back on the grid next year," he insists. "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," he admits. "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."
While he might currently be reduced to watching from the sidelines, at least he has the consolation of not being blamed for McLaren's ongoing disaster.