OPINION: If he finds his form, a Ricciardo return to Red Bull is exactly what F1 needs
The Aussie returns at the Hungarian Grand Prix as something of an unknown quantity.
He was once considered one of the best around, dazzling at Red Bull and Renault with his blistering pace and overtaking abilities, but he lost that reputation during two campaigns at McLaren in which he was soundly beaten by Lando Norris and looked a shadow of his former self.
He lost his seat as a result, having to settle for a reserve role at Red Bull for the 2023 season, and entering his mid-30s, it looked as if his best years were very much behind him. However, through his work in the simulator and in a tyre test, he persuaded the team that the driver who gave them seven victories from 2014 to 2018 is still in there.
Whether that’s the case or not will become clear in the coming months. Given he’ll be in perhaps the slowest car on the grid, he may not be able to fight too far up the field, but if he’s performing to the best of his abilities, he’ll be able to get the better of his teammate Yuki Tsunoda without too much trouble.
Doing so would give him a good chance of taking the struggling Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull for 2024, which is very much his goal.
"The dream is a Red Bull seat," he admitted after his return was announced.
"I knew that after the last few years, to get back to the top after taking some time off would be hard. You need to be realistic at some point and say 'Ok, if I want a Red Bull seat then it's going to take a bit of a process.’”
If he can make that dream come true, it would spark a sport that’s losing the interest of many due to the dominance of Max Verstappen back into life.
When it comes to entertainment, F1 was at an all-time high at the end of the thrilling 2021 campaign, which saw Verstappen battle Lewis Hamilton in one of the greatest title fights ever, but has been going downhill ever since.
Perez hasn’t been good enough to challenge the Dutchman consistently, and nobody else has had a good enough car to do so.
Given how far ahead Red Bull are, it’s unlikely that any team will close the gap next season, meaning the only hope of an exciting title fight will be an intra-team one, and Ricciardo could provide that.
For proof, you need only look back a few years. He and Verstappen spent just under three seasons as teammates together from 2016 to 2018, and there was little to choose between them across that period.
Taking into account only the races in which both were at Red Bull - Verstappen was promoted from Toro Rosso after round four - Ricciardo was comfortably the stronger of the two in 2016, scoring one more podium, 29 more points and out-qualifying the teenage prodigy 11 to 6.
Verstappen closed the gap in 2017, winning the qualifying battle 13-7, but was still second best on race days - scoring five fewer podiums and 32 fewer points. That being said, he did win a race more and encountered more reliability issues.
In 2018, the Dutchman got the better of the 'Honey Badger' but the battle was closer than the numbers would suggest. While the former scored 79 more points and won the qualifying battle 15-6, the latter won just as many races (two) and endured remarkably bad luck, being forced to retire through no fault of his own on seven occasions.
All in all, the two were a largely even match throughout their time together when you take fortune out of the equation and treated the world to some thrilling and fiery battles.
Many doubt that it would be a similar story if the two were reunited, arguing that Verstappen is a much better driver now than he was back then and Ricciardo is much worse. However, the Aussie shouldn’t be ruled out so quickly.
Arguably his best season in terms of his driving alone, his 2020 campaign at Renault, wasn’t all that long ago, and he did show glimpses of that ability during his time at McLaren such as when he got the team their first win in just under a decade at Monza.
The reason he struggled there is because the car didn’t suit his driving style, with its weaknesses preventing him from playing to his strengths. With the Red Bull vehicle having next to no limitations, he wouldn’t have such a problem again.
The hard part will be making it there in the first place. To do so, he’ll have to do what he couldn’t last year - perform well in a far-from-ideal car.
His issues at McLaren could help him in that regard, with them teaching him it’s better to stick to your own style even if it doesn’t suit your car well rather than try to adapt and drive in a way that’s unnatural to you.
“I look back at my first race with McLaren, (when) I out-qualified Lando," he said at the end of last year.
"That was when I was still fairly ‘green’ with the car. I kind of wonder, did we get lost along the way? Did I start to try too hard and get away from my strengths and try to drive the car a certain way, (which was) maybe a weakness for me?"
Nothing is certain, but with him possessing those lessons, a hunger that would’ve been made bigger than ever by his time away, and the incentive of a seat in the best car on the grid for 2024, the Ricciardo of old could be on his way back.
He isn’t guaranteed a promotion if he does perform well, with Perez under contract at Red Bull until the end of next season, but it’s hard to imagine that the team won’t get rid of the Mexican early if he doesn’t improve his form and Ricciardo impresses.
If it transpires, such a switch could lead to a titanic title fight and restore F1's place as one of the most entertaining spectacles in the world of sport.