According to Helmut Marko, Daniel Ricciardo will rejoin Red Bull as the team’s third driver for the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Liam Lawson will serve as the chosen reserve, with Ricciardo serving as the expected development driver.
The 33-year-old Australian’s contract with McLaren was terminated a year early after two generally unsuccessful seasons with the British team. This left him without a spot on the grid for the upcoming season.
Several places at the back of the grid were linked to Ricciardo, but he said he would like to join a top team as a reserve driver with the goal of making a comeback in a more competitive car in 2024.
Ricciardo was rumored to be joining Mercedes in recent weeks, but Red Bull appears to have swooped in to sign him. Between 2014 and 2018, Ricciardo competed for the team and won seven of his eight F1 races.
“Ricciardo will be our third driver,” Marko, a Red Bull advisor, told Sky Sports in Germany.
“We have so many sponsors, we have to do show runs, so of course he’s one of the most high-profile and best-suited.”