Daniel Ricciardo will ‘struggle’ to land top seat in 2024, says ex-F1 world champion

The popular Australian is set to take a one-year sabbatical in the hope of landing a seat in F1 in 2024

Jenson Button believes that Daniel Ricciardo will “really struggle” to land a seat at a “competitive” F1 team in 2024.

The popular Australian was dropped by McLaren a year early, with compatriot and 2021 F2 champion Oscar Piastri replacing him next year.

The 33-year-old, who has raced in Formula 1 for eleven-and-a-half seasons, will miss the 2023 season having been unable to land a seat elsewhere.

Ricciardo, an eight-time Grand Prix winner, has been heavily linked with a reserve driver role at Mercedes but admitted after Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix that he is still in the dark regarding his future.

However 2009 world champion Button is concerned that Ricciardo’s approach - with the target of returning to a top seat in 2024 - may backfire.

“Most of this season Daniel hasn’t been on the pace of Lando [Norris] and quite a bit off at times, so it’s the right move for the team,” Button said, on Sky Sports’ Any Driven Monday show.

“For Daniel, it’s a tricky situation. I guess he didn’t want to drop too far down the grid and work with a team that’s more towards the rear because it’s difficult for a driver coming from a team that is almost winning races at times to suddenly know you’re fighting for points.

Daniel Ricciardo will miss the 2023 F1 season having been dropped by McLaren (AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s tough, but I still think it would have been a better move for him. Go into a team, work hard, show people what you can do in a car that maybe suits you a bit more, and then people forget what happened the year before.

“That’s the issue now, people forget how good Ricciardo is because he’s had such a difficult year-and-a-half or two years. But he has the talent and in a car that suits him, he would show his skill and then he has the opportunity to race in a top team again. But sitting out? People just remember what happened last year.

“It’s a tricky one and I really struggle to see him coming back to a competitive team after having a year out.”

Ricciardo was voted driver of the day on Sunday, finishing seventh, but he is still 76 points behind team-mate Lando Norris with two races left, in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.