Dropped from Red Bull’s junior team late last year, David Coulthard believes the first question Daniel Ricciardo has to ask himself is does he want to continue racing.

If the answer is yes and he’s considering a move to IndyCar, then he needs to ask himself is he okay with the risk because “you cannot race the ovals without hitting the wall at some point”.

Daniel Ricciardo told to weigh up ‘risk versus return’

Ricciardo’s hopes of a competitive comeback into Formula 1 were undone last season when the eight-time Grand Prix winner failed to make an impact at VCARB, one worthy of bumping Sergio Perez out of the Red Bull seat.

That resulted in the Honey Badger being dropped by the team after the Singapore Grand Prix, Red Bull opening the door for Liam Lawson to instead audition for Perez’s seat.

The New Zealander got the job and will partner Max Verstappen this year while Ricciardo is once again pondering what comes next, a question he also faced when he prematurely left McLaren after the F1 2022 championship.

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Ricciardo’s future became one of the topics when former F1 driver David Coulthard played a round of golf with digital F1 creator Lucas Stewart.

Told to say something when he hears the name of a ‘better driver than David Coulthard’, the Scot kept quiet barring a scoff when Nikita Mazepin’s name was called out, and only shook his head as others such as Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez were mentioned. He also kept quiet for Ricciardo.

“Daniel, eight grand prix victories, great overtaker, but the way his career petered out is what would make me hold on to keeping my silence,” he explained.

Stewart went on to ask Coulthard about Ricciardo’s options for the future after the 35-year-old was dropped from Red Bull’s junior team late last season.

“Well, if he still has racing in his mind then he’s got to find the fight championship,” said Coulthard. “I think that there’s no question he would be an asset for a Formula One team in terms of personality.

“But this isn’t a personality contest. It’s a stopwatch contest.

“You’ve got to acknowledge McLaren didn’t work out, and then the comeback with VCARB didn’t work out either, but he has been gifted a period of time in Formula One where the popularity and growth has been such that he’s a celebrity beyond being a driver.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t already worked out that working within the media space will keep that celebrity. What I would recommend he doesn’t do is think that you can sort of take a year out and then come back and still be as interesting.”

Stewart revealed he’d like to see Ricciardo racing in America’s IndyCar series, but Coulthard warned the Honey Badger that such a move comes with huge risk, especially as Ricciardo has never raced on ovals.

“What you would quantify is risk versus return,” he said on that. “And by the time I finished my grand prix career, there was a chance to go out to America, but I felt that I’d survived a plane crash, I’d survived Formula One crashes because…

“You’re conscious of what Mario Andretti used to say, which is, ‘there’s those who’ve hit the wall and those who will hit the wall’. So you cannot race IndyCar and race the ovals without hitting the wall at some point.

“And you know, my team-mate from DTM, Robert Wickens, got involved in a crash, and he’s now in a wheelchair. So you know, the dangers of America are absolutely… I love watching the racing, never missed a 500.

“Daniel’s got a way out. I mean, he’s a wealthy boy. He’s got a big personality, and unless he truly believes he’s going to learn how to master the ovals it definitely is going to be a thought. If it wasn’t, then why would anyone stop racing yeah stop racing, because you’re not able to do it at the same level.”

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