Daniel Ricciardo has delved into the reasons why he has been staying away from the Formula 1 paddock.

Ricciardo’s F1 career ended after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, when the RB driver was replaced by Liam Lawson after enduring a tough campaign thus far.

In the past two years, the Australian has stayed away from the limelight, spending more time at home and less on planes, though he did become a global ambassador for Ford Racing.

Not all former F1 drivers stay inactive when they stop competing in the world championship. Some of them race in other series; across 2025 and 2026, Robert Kubica, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries won the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Others become TV pundits, like Jenson Button, David Coulthard, Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg and Jacques Villeneuve among many others.

Ricciardo has engaged in none of this yet, and when asked in the Beyond The Grid podcast if we would see him back in the F1 paddock in some capacity, the eight-time grand prix winner responded: “I’m not sure.

“If you would have asked me a year ago, I would have said ‘No, I don’t ever want to just be around anymore’. At that time, I felt a lot of pain, so it caused too much pain to be around. I was very negative towards it.

“But I think also the last couple of years I’ve tried to understand my ego. There were some feelings of, I guess, like an ego death, when all of these things happen and kind of collapse in front of you. Then I was like, why am I so anti? Okay, that’s my ego also talking, ‘Oh, I’m never going to come back to the paddock, I don’t want to see any of those people’, and that’s also probably my ego trying to protect myself.

“I’m at a place now where I’m very appreciative of many of the things that F1 gave me and the relationships too; I still speak to a lot of the drivers, engineers, mechanics – there’s relationships that I still have. Even Singapore [2024], I stayed at the track quite late that night after the race, because I knew, I was like, I don’t know when I’m going to be back. So I tried to say as many goodbyes as I could, but it was very sombre, just not the way I probably want to say goodbye to some people.

Daniel Ricciardo, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images

“So I do want to, but I think the thing I’ve been torn with is if I go back too soon, is it just going to be like, ‘Hey, Daniel, is he coming back, what is he doing?’. I don’t want the kind of media baggage with that, I just want to be able to go and see some friends, but I also appreciate that’s not the reality of an F1 paddock and how it works – and I understand that. It’s kind of why I haven’t come back as well, because I don’t want the attention, and I think if I go into the paddock without a purpose, it’s like, ‘Okay, why is Daniel here, is he just looking to get his photo taken?’. These are just things I tell myself,” he chuckled.

“I don’t really want to travel. The thought of the F1 calendar freaks me out, so that’s where I’m like, I don’t think there’s anything there that I would…

“I spoke to a few friends, in other sports, that are now retired athletes but went back into the sport as a manager, as a team owner, or taken a role. It’s funny. One of them in particular said, ‘It’s no easier than when I was competing’, because you still are so invested – especially in the athletes – that their problems are your problems, and you don’t get home from work. You’re still living with the weight of an athlete.

“I do love speaking with younger drivers and I do love trying to share some of my knowledge and experiences. I just don’t think I want to go through all those emotions again – it’s a lot. The thought of just being out of that and living a little more lightly, freely, that just feels nicer and better.

“I don’t think that would help me be maybe the best version of myself, especially around people that matter to me.”

The Perth native has been watching races on TV, with his father enjoying his insight. So might he enjoy being a pundit sometime? “The travel!” Ricciardo exclaimed.

Daniel Ricciardo, Grace Ricciardo, Joe Ricciardo

Photo by: Jed Cullen / Dave Benett / Getty Images

“It’s hard, because a lot of people tell me, ‘Oh, you’d be great on TV’. Look, there’s a part of me that, yes, it would be awesome to share many of my experiences and knowledge. Even if I watch a race with, even my dad, my dad is like, ‘Man, someone has to hear what you have to say during a race, because I learn so much from you when I watch a race’. Obviously that’s just because I was one of the 20. There’s, I guess, a few of us who have really experienced it to that level. Obviously I appreciate a lot of ex-drivers are in that space now, there’s a reason for that.

“There’s just also something refreshing about doing something completely different with life. Being able to live maybe two lives, in a way, the thought of that is also really quite nice. Maybe just closing that book and moving on, that also sounds cool. But then there’s times where I’m like, I have 35 years of racing wisdom and knowledge; to just kind of lock it in a box and never let it be seen or heard, is that a waste?

“I don’t know. I think that’s why I haven’t really jumped on anything, because I’m trying to make sure what I do is right.”