Daniel Ricciardo has been told he may struggle to ever return to the Formula 1 grid after dropping out of the sport at the end of the season.
Haas still have a seat undecided for 2023 but Ricciardo has already ruled himself out of taking it. As a result, following his McLaren axe earlier this season, the grid next season will be without the Australian for the first time since 2011, when he made his F1 debut with HRT.
A reserve role looks likely next season for Ricciardo, though he has so far refused to say who with. Despite that, Mercedes have been heavily linked and have lost both their current backups Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne, while Mirror Sport understands there has also been contact with Red Bull.
The 33-year-old hopes such a role will keep him close to the paddock, and give him the best chance of landing a drive in 2024. But Jenson Button isn't convinced that plan will work, and has warned Ricciardo that he may find it more difficult than he thinks to get himself back into the sport.
"I guess he didn't want to drop too far down the grid and work with a team that's more towards the rear, because it's difficult for a driver coming from a team that is almost winning races at times to suddenly know you're fighting for points," the 2009 drivers' champion told Sky Sports' Any Driven Monday programme.
"It is tough. But I still think it would have been a better move for him. 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. That's the issue now, people forget how good Ricciardo is because he's had such a difficult year and a half or two years.
"But 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."
Ricciardo produced one of his best drives of the year in Mexico, finishing seventh despite a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Yuki Tsunoda. So confident was the Aussie, F1 TV cameras even caught him shooting Esteban Ocon with a "finger gun" before overtaking the Alpine driver.
After the race he told Sky: "I still want to be in the sport, and I want to be working with a team still with the ambition to be back on the grid in 2024. I feel like a bit of time away from a race seat will do me good, and then try to rebuild on something for 2024. I'm not done but it will look a bit different."
