EXCLUSIVE: Ricciardo open to AlphaTauri drive if it 'creates path' to Red Bull

The Australian is currently acting as Red Bull’s reserve driver as a back-up for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez after losing his McLaren drive at the end of a difficult 2022 season. 

Ricciardo recently admitted it would be a “fairytale” for him to end his F1 career by returning to race for Red Bull. 

Such a move for next year looks an unlikely prospect given that Verstappen is tied down to a long-term deal, and Perez is contracted until the end of 2024. 

But with the under-pressure Nyck de Vries in a battle to save his AlphaTauri career, a seat could yet open up at Red Bull’s sister team next season. 

“I’m remaining open-minded,” Ricciardo exclusively told Crash.net about potentially racing with AlphaTauri next year. 

“If it’s like ‘this is you and you are signing a three-year deal and that’s the only place you are going to be’, then no, that’s maybe not the deal I would look for. 

“But if there’s the possibility to obviously be here [Red Bull]… The truth is this is where I want to be. I’m not going to weave my way around it.

“If that creates a path to get back here then yeah it’s something I would look at because ultimately this is the place where I want to get back to.” 

Asked how long he is willing to wait on the F1 sidelines, Ricciardo, who claimed seven of his eight F1 victories with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018, replied: "I’d love to get back on the grid next year. 

“If things didn’t turn out the way I’d like and I’m on the sidelines again next year, it’s not my Plan A but I wouldn’t freak out. 

“I look at [Nico] Hulkenberg, who's been on the sidelines a few years - obviously done the odd race here and there - but he’s been pretty awesome this year. So I’m not concerned that I’ll ‘lose it’. 

“Obviously, I’m not getting younger though, so I don’t want to miss too much. Because I also don’t want to be [Fernando] Alonso and in my forties doing it. 

"But I look at him and I’m like ‘well if you are that good still, maybe I [would] still want to do it!’ But let’s see. If the team is like ‘well you can sit out next year and you have a seat for the year after’ I’d be like ‘alright sweet, of course I’ll sit out’. But I’d love to race.” 

Ricciardo revealed that he has not held talks or had any concrete offers from other teams.

“I’m staying open-minded and with a wide-lens on everything,” he explained. “So I don’t want to be too stubborn. 

“Being back in this family, it does feel like the best thing for me. So ideally something comes from this family and I don't have to look elsewhere.”

So how confident is Ricciardo of eventually getting back to the F1 grid full-time?

“I’m pretty confident,” he said. “I don’t want to be too confident because I’ve never seen a contract and don’t have pen-on-paper or anything. 

“So I can’t be like ‘yeah I’m definitely on it’. But if you were like gun to head, you have to say yes or no, my answer is yes as opposed to no. 

“I have a bit more confidence that I will be than I won’t be.”