The Pierre Gasly/Nyck de Vries deals are key pieces in the Formula 1 driver market that provide further clues Daniel Ricciardo is heading for a year on the sidelines in 2023.
Alpine and AlphaTauri have now confirmed definitive line-ups for next season as Gasly will move to join Esteban Ocon at the Renault works team while AlphaTauri has signed De Vries to replace him.
It only leaves seats at Haas and Williams available and neither of those are considered options for Ricciardo.
Haas is believed to be choosing between Mick Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg. Williams is said to prefer to promote its junior driver and Formula 2 race winner Logan Sargeant – although Schumacher is also a candidate there, at least according to team boss Jost Capito.
It means Ricciardo is set for a sabbatical from racing, which has looked like the likeliest outcome for some time.
Though it might be possible he dovetails this with a reserve role – he constantly gets linked to Mercedes – the prospect of Ricciardo deciding to have a full break and reset shouldn’t be discounted.
Ricciardo has been keen to take the time to “figure out what’s the best thing going to be for me next year” with the knowledge that 2023 isn’t the priority.
The driver market was volatile this summer and Ricciardo’s impending exit from McLaren was obviously a key element of that, but the moving parts didn’t create an appealing opening for Ricciardo to move into himself.
Alpine was the most competitive option left on the table even though it represented a move back to the team Ricciardo walked out on at the end of 2020. Whether it was his decision or the team’s, or a mutual disinterest, that reunion never seemed to even be seriously discussed.
Would either Williams or Haas likely offer him what he needs financially or competitively? Not for 2023. Probably not beyond. So Ricciardo wants to make sure he’s in a position to take advantage of what will hopefully be a kinder driver market for 2024.
It’s a risk in itself. Disappearing for a year isn’t going to suddenly mend the damage to Ricciardo’s reputation after two difficult seasons with McLaren. But it might take the sting out of it. And plenty of people in the paddock are still aware of what Ricciardo’s capable of.
“It’s not as simple as just the first contract that comes in front of me, sign it, and yeah, I’m back on the grid,” Ricciardo said at Suzuka.
“I’m not rushed about making a decision. It’s more just if I keep going with the rest of the season, the more it will become clearer what’s going to be best for me.
“There’s nothing you don’t know. There’s nothing that I’m not telling you. There’ll be full transparency from that point of view and when I know what I’m doing, then everyone will know, they’ll hear it.”
Translation: Ricciardo’s got nothing lined up. And if that changes it almost certainly won’t be with a race drive. It’s not the situation Ricciardo would have wanted for 2023. He has, at least, seemed to have made his peace with it.
2023 F1 DRIVER LINE-UP SO FAR
Red Bull: Max Verstappen/Sergio Perez
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc/Carlos Sainz
Mercedes: George Russell/Lewis Hamilton
McLaren: Lando Norris/Oscar Piastri
Alpine: Esteban Ocon/Pierre Gasly
Alfa Romeo: Valtteri Bottas/Zhou Guanyu
Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso/Lance Stroll
Haas: Kevin Magnussen/tba
AlphaTauri: Yuki Tsunoda/Nyck de Vries
Williams: Alex Albon/tba
