Daniel Ricciardo targets Red Bull seat for 2025 as Honey Badger seeks to 'remind these cats'

Daniel Ricciardo, VCARB, Visa, Bahrain, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Drive to Survive

Ricciardo targets Red Bull seat for 2025 as Honey Badger seeks to 'remind these cats'

Daniel Ricciardo confirms that his aim is to get back to the team he left in 2018

By Shay Rogers.

Sunday 25 February 2024 04:57

Daniel Ricciardo has been plotting his next steps as he bids to return to the top of Formula 1 now that he's back in a full-time seat.

Entering last season, Ricciardo didn't have a drive and he's eager to make up for lost time as he revealed on season six of Netflix series Drive to Survive, which premieres this weekend.

The Australian driver made a quick comeback to the sport when he took Nyck De Vries' seat after the British Grand Prix, helping AlphaTauri to climb up from last place in the constructors’ championship in 2023.

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Despite suffering a broken wrist at the Dutch Grand Prix and missing five races, he still did enough to prove to bosses that he was the right choice for a VCARB seat this year.

But that isn’t where he wants his journey to end, with a chance at a prospective Red Bull seat for 2025 part of the 34-year old’s plan.

Daniel Ricciardo races alongside Yuki Tsunoda at VCARB this year

Christian Horner talks with Daniel Ricciardo while serving as Red Bull's third driver

The Honey Badger is BACK!

“The full full-circle dream for me is to get back at Red Bull Racing,” he said. “That would be, like, complete for me.

“If I find a way to kick some ass, it could put me back in a position to take a top seat in the sport. The Honey Badger’s back. I need to remind these cats.

Daniel Ricciardo drives his VCARB around the Bahrain circuit

“I’m really excited to drive again. I think that’ll bring a lot of confidence and a lot of joy in me and hopefully, give me a chance to show my true self. To have Yuki as a team-mate, it’s another challenge. Curious to see how he performs.

Another decisive part of Ricciardo’s future will be how well Sergio Perez decides to perform for Red Bull throughout the upcoming season.

With their rivals set to close in, it would be naive to think that Red Bull are not in need of a driver that can push Max Verstappen to his limits – and Ricciardo could be the perfect option to do that.

Red Bull Formula 1 Daniel Ricciardo British Grand Prix AlphaTauri