Daniel Ricciardo 'at peace' with the prospect of entering his final two Formula 1 races
Daniel Ricciardo is "at peace" with the possibility the final two F1 races of the year in Brazil and Abu Dhabi could the the last of his career.
Ricciardo was sacked by McLaren in September with a year left on his contract, and has been strongly-linked with a reserve role at Mercedes for next year, with an eye on securing a seat back on the grid for 2024.
Facing a silly season that is shaping up to be as tight as this year's, Ricciardo said he's made his peace with the prospect this could be the end of his F1 journey.
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"If that's the case, I'm standing with my decision," he told Racer.
"Look, I don't want this to be my last two races in F1, but if it is then I accept that could be an outcome."
Daniel Ricciardo at the US Grand Prix in Austin. Formula 1 via Getty Images
Ahead of this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, the West Australian said he believed jumping into an uncompetitive 2023 race seat would have ended his career anyway, and that taking a year off was the lesser of two evils.
"It's shown here in my time at McLaren that nothing's guaranteed in terms of performance," he told Racer.
"So if (2023) was, for whatever reason, to be a relatively unsuccessful campaign, I think personally I would probably be done with the sport. So that risk seems way bigger than the risk of sitting out a year."
Ricciardo during the Belgian Grand Prix Getty
The 2024 silly season is already shaping up to be as tight as this year's, with few seats up for grabs. Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and Aston Martin all have their lineups locked in at least until the end of 2024.
With AlphaTauri and Alpine considered unlikely - and McLaren obviously removed from the equation - it leaves just Alfa Romeo, Williams and Haas. That's essentially the same seats on offer for next year.
Alfa Romeo, which will revert to its Sauber name for next season, will become an Audi works team when the new engine regulations kick in in 2026.
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