Red Bull Racing announced on Wednesday it has signed Daniel Ricciardo as a reserve driver for the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship, and potentially beyond.
In the role he will assist the team with testing and simulator work, as well as some commercial activities.
He will also be first in line to race should one of the team’s current drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, need to skip a round.
Ricciardo lost his spot at McLaren at the close of the 2022 season, and having failed to find another seat was looking at the end of his F1 career. However, the new role will keep him busy and in shape as he continues his goal of finding a seat in the 2024 season.
“For me personally, the ability to contribute to and be surrounded by the best team in F1 is hugely appealing, while also giving me some time to recharge and refocus,” Ricciardo said in a statement.
Ricciardo already has plenty of history with Red Bull. He started his F1 career as a test driver for Red Bull feeder team Toro Rosso, which today competes as AlphaTauri. His first season as a driver was in 2011, with HRT, after which he joined Toro Rosso in 2011 and then Red Bull in 2014, where he stayed until joining Renault in 2019. He then joined McLaren in 2021.
He’s had eight wins in his career. One of the wins came in 2021 with McLaren and the rest were during his time with Red Bull.
Fellow Australian Oscar Piastri was named in September as Ricciardo’s replacement at McLaren.