Daniel Ricciardo refused to rule out a move to another racing series for next season.
The Aussie will not have a Formula 1 race seat after McLaren decided to end his contract a year early and sign Oscar Piastri as his replacement. Haas still have a race seat undecided for next season, but Ricciardo moved to rule himself out of a move to the American team several weeks ago.
But he has made it clear he wants to remain close to F1 if he can, in order to get back onto the grid in the future. With that in mind, he could join Mercedes as their third driver, while Mirror Sport understands there have also been talks with Red Bull over a possible return to his old team as a reserve.
It is also possible Ricciardo may decide it would be best for him to continue competing, even if it takes him further away from the F1 paddock temporarily. Perhaps with that in mind, he refused to rule out the idea of moving to another series for 2023.
Asked if he could consider that, with a return to Australia to compete in V8 Supercars given as an example, he replied: "I guess I need to wait to see where I land next year. Obviously I'm talking about potentially a reserve role, or whatever. Truth is, I haven’t agreed to anything or signed anything yet.
"Then it comes to a question of, what am I allowed to do, is one thing, but ultimately, if I feel maybe doing a one-off will benefit me, and keep me sharp or whatever. Then it's something I'll potentially look into.
"But I'm kind of like, F1 is so different to maybe a touring car or something, that I don't know if it will distance me more. So that's what I would need to work out. So yeah, tough. I don't want to say no yet to anything. But ideally, I'd get some days in an F1 car as opposed to trying to, let's say, get a seat somewhere else."
Meanwhile, former F1 champion Jenson Button feels Ricciardo made a mistake by turning down the chance to be considered for the vacant Haas seat in favour of a reserve role with a top team. "I still think it would have been a better move for him," said the Brit. "Go into a team, work hard, show people what you can do, in a car that maybe suits your car a bit more, and then people forget what happened the year before.
"He has the talent, and in a car that suits him, he would show his skill and then he has the opportunity to race in a top team again. But sitting out? People just remember what happened last year. It's a tricky one and I really struggle to see him coming back to a competitive team after having a year out."
