Daniel Ricciardo has revealed his plan to complete a cross-country motorbike adventure in the USA next year.
The Australian will have more time on his hands next year, having dropped off the Formula 1 grid. And that is, in part at least, by design – after McLaren announced he would be released and it became clear no top teams would be able to give him a race seat, he decided a break would be the next best option.
And so Ricciardo signed back with his old Red Bull team as a reserve driver, but made sure his duties would not be too time consuming. After a difficult couple of years, he hopes a break can reinvigorate his love for the sport.
So far, he has been fairly tight-lipped on his plans for 2023 – perhaps because he is still figuring it out. But Ricciardo has revealed at least one of his plans, and it involves him travelling to his beloved USA for a road trip of a lifetime.
"I'm really trying to find a balance of still staying in the sport, to some degree, but giving myself time to, again, just have time for me," he told Speedcafe. "That's even as simple as even just getting more time to myself to train, to spend in the [time] in the gym, to get better, whatever.
"That's what people also don't understand – I'm sorry, I'm not attacking them – but our schedule's so busy that I might train one day a week.
"[I will be] taking more time for me to do things, prioritise some other things but also I'm trying to plan a ride across America. That's something that I know will be yes, exciting, fun, but I'll also just get so much self-reflection time. That stuff, for me, is really powerful – just being alone and going through nature.
"All these things, they're things I'm looking forward to. And I think getting enough alone time as well will answer a lot of questions and give me clarity moving forward; if 2024 is the best thing for me to be back on the grid or not. Then it's up to teams as well to feel like I'm worthy, but think I'll just answer a lot of questions for myself next year."
Even if he won't be seen much in the F1 paddock, Christian Horner explained last week that the deal to re-sign Ricciardo still makes sense from a marketing perspective. "Daniel is such a great personality and big character – and of course promotionally, he's got the biggest smile in Formula 1," the team principal. said.
