Daniel Ricciardo has denied suggestions that he has a contract to return to Red Bull as its Formula 1 Reserve Driver next season.
Rumours in Brazil swirled that the Australian has inked a deal with his former team to support Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in 2023.
It follows Ricciardo’s stated aim of landing a Reserve Driver role with a leading operation as he looks to rebuild himself ahead of a racing return in 2024.
The rumours came despite the 33-year-old saying on Thursday that he was not close to securing his future beyond his time at McLaren.
“There’s nothing yet, let’s say, close or confirmed or anything,” he reasserted following the Sprint in Interlagos on Saturday.
“I can make something up but nothing new to tell you.”
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Red Bull and Mercedes are the only logical locations for Ricciardo, who opted not to pursue opportunities to race for Alpine, Williams, and Haas.
McLaren boss Andreas Seidl confessed discussions over a reserve role with the Woking squad hadn’t occurred when asked by Speedcafe.com.
With the eight-time race winner’s stated aim of wanting to join a leading team, only Red Bull and Mercedes, therefore, fit that bill.
The latter was considered the most likely; however, a Ricciardo return to Red Bull now looks increasingly on the cards.
“It’s not,” he argued when asked about suggestions he’d already signed with the Milton Keynes squad.
“It’s not, I can tell you now. Nothing’s done.
“As I said before, I have nothing to hide from even, call it, a contractual point of view like in terms of, I guess I’m free to talk and do whatever.
“But there’s nothing done.
“If something was done, trust me, I’d be saying it. So there’s nothing holding that back.”
Ricciardo achieved seven of his eight grand prix wins with Red Bull in a tenure that lasted from 2014 to 2018.
He then joined Renault for 2019, citing a need to flee the nest after spending much of his career to that point with the operation.
What a return to Red Bull offers Ricciardo, and the team, is unclear.
Verstappen is on a long-term deal and Perez extended his contract following victory in Monaco, keeping him at the squad until at least 2024.
Joining Scuderia AlphaTauri would be a step backwards, and is a proving ground for the team’s next generation.
It has Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries for 2023, though encouragingly the latter was brought in from outside the Red Bull programme.
The only other possibility is to use the drive as a launchpad into another team, much in the way Alex Albon restored his reputation after a difficult year in 2020.
Regardless, his decision to sit out a year of racing is a gamble, one Ricciardo fully acknowledges has the potential to end his Formula 1 career.
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