Formula 1: Daniel Ricciardo reportedly heading for Mercedes switch

Daniel Ricciardo is set to be in ‘advanced talks’ over a reserve driver role at Mercedes for 2023, according to reports.

The Aussie leaves McLaren at the end of the current season and it looks as though there is not going to be a place for him on the grid for next year.

He’s already said that he has made peace with that possibility and that he’d still like to be involved in F1 in some capacity and so, that said, it’s perhaps no surprise that a reserve driver role is what is looking like his most possible avenue to explore.

Indeed, he’s been linked with switches to both Red Bull and Merc in a reserve driver capacity and it is the latter that appears his most likely destination, with Canal+ reporting that talks are at an advanced stage over him joining the current Constructors’ world champions, with him supporting Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in 2023.

Ricciardo was spotted in the Merc motorhome over the course of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend and seemed in an extra chirpy mood than normal around the paddock, which could also point to something being sorted in terms of his future, though he is a pretty jovial character anyway.

Time will tell as to what happens with Ricciardo, then, but with the driver line-up for 2023 moving away from him and several other names looking more likely to fill the spots still available, any deal with Mercedes could well be his best bet.

It would then give him a chance to have a bit of a breather from all the full-on chaos of F1 after what has been a tough two years for him at McLaren, whilst also remaining a presence around the sport.

It must have crossed his mind that a total break from F1 next year could become something inadvertently longer given the pace at which the paddock moves