Daniel Ricciardo will have no 'open door' for F1 return, feels former McLaren driver

Despite the speculations, former F1 driver Mark Blundell feels it will be very hard for Daniel Ricciardo to find a permanent seat with a team in the 2024 season.

Though Ricciardo is a part of Red Bull now, Blundell feels that the decisions he made were not completely right. As a result, he might have to face a lot of difficulties to race with a team in 2024, something that the Australian has talked about previously. Blundell told PlanetF1.com:

"Was it actually viable for him to go and get on the grid? It may be a team that wasn’t going to be as strong as what he would like. Sitting out the year comfortably, yes, okay, it gives him some downtime. But, I think it’s still going to be quite hard for him to pick himself up and get back on the grid again in a team that he will feel is deserving of what he needs performance-wise."

Blundell believes that there is a lot of hard work coming the way of Daniel Ricciardo if he actually plans on moving into a team as their permanent driver.

"He’s got to do the work. I don’t think it’s going to be an open door for him to come back on the grid easily. He’s gonna have to prove himself and work at it."

---

Blundell believes Daniel Ricciardo didn't understand the working at McLaren

Daniel Ricciardo had been racing for McLaren for the past two seasons. However, his performance had been deteriorating and it was hard to analyze the reason for the same.

At the end of the 2022 season, when the team was inevitably losing to Alpine, it was announced that the Australian's contract was being terminated. He was replaced by Oscar Piastri for the upcoming season.

Blundell feels that he and McLaren couldn't extract the best out of each other, and hence it led to this decision.

"Looking at it from the outside, I just don’t know whether the actual glue was there in terms of Ricciardo being in McLaren and understanding how it operates.

"Maybe both parties not getting the best out of each other."

Daniel Ricciardo was appointed by Red Bull, making his return to the team for the first time since 2018, but as a reserve driver this time.

It is expected that he will return to the grid as a permanent driver in the 2024 season. But, as Blundell said, it can get a little tough for him.