1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill believes there would be some logic to Daniel Ricciardo being a reserve next year in Formula One if the Australian fails to secure a starting seat.

After a two-season stint with McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo will leave the Woking-based team at the end of the 2022 campaign and, as yet, no one knows if the Australian will still be in the starting line-up next year. Although the main man has yet to reveal his plans for 2023, Ricciardo has insisted he would be open to all possibilities, including taking on a reserve driver role with a team if no seat is available.

When asked by Sky Sports if Damon Hill felt it would make sense for Daniel Ricciardo – winner of eight Grands Prix in his career – to take on a simple reserve role in F1, the British ex driver replied, “I think there is some logic to it.”

“If you’re at least with a top team, even if you’re behind the scenes waiting for the right opportunity, you might have, potentially, some useful information about another team.”

“But every team leader, every team, would look at it and wonder where their rhythm has gone. Will it come back? And that’s the big question mark because we don’t know.”

Involved in a real negative spiral since the start of the year with performances below expectations, Hill hopes Daniel Ricciardo will quickly find his rhythm and return to the battle at the front of the field in the future.

“Danny is such a fantastic character for our sport. He’s always smiling, but something went wrong, not only in his pace at McLaren, but also in his strategy to get into a competitive car. Something fell through the cracks and hopefully he will come back to the front.”

Despite the feeling in the paddock toward Ricciardo joining Mercedes as reserve, the jungle drums within the teams feel that rather than joining as a reserve, he is actually headed for a return to Alpine. More on that later…

In his career, Daniel Ricciardo has been with five different teams: HRT, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Renault and McLaren. Which team will be the sixth next year?

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