Daniel Ricciardo may have several potential suitors for a 2024 race seat should he decide he wants to race again in Formula 1.
The 33-year-old is a Red Bull reserve this year, having been axed by McLaren a year earlier than planned. He is in the paddock at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix for the first time in his new capacity, taking part in important marketing tasks while also being on standby in case he is needed for action.
Questions remain over his F1 future and whether he will return to a race seat. Ricciardo must decide for himself whether he wants that, and would also need sufficient interest from teams.
But it seams that second part is already present. Asked about the prospect of signing the Australian, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner did not rule out discussions later in the year – though he made it clear he would give Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg every chance to prove their worth.
He said: "It's a bit early to speak about a driver change already for next year so let's see what we are doing with these drivers. For sure, at some point, maybe I'll speak with him, but I cannot promise anything because if our two guys do a good job, I think [that's] where I stand with it.
"Everybody is [going to] want to speak with Daniel. The year off, maybe he knows again what he wants to do and he will be interesting for everybody in F1.
"At the moment I want to find out... I've got a new driver this year [Hulkenberg] who has only [done] two races, so I need to give him a little bit of a chance!"
Steiner is also in no doubt that Ricciardo will have other potential suitors. Alpine may be one of them if their all-French partnership of Esteban Ocon and new signing Pierre Gasly does not work out – and Otmar Szafnauer had discussions with the Aussie before setting his current pairing in stone.
"We had discussions with Daniel and ended up with Pierre, when he became available," said the Alpine chief in Melbourne. "He's signed with Red Bull now but I think he's a fantastic racing driver, he's still young and I wouldn't be surprised if he's back racing in the future."
