{"id":950833,"date":"2026-10-29T16:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T16:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/950833\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T16:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T16:26:20","slug":"why-daniel-ricciardo-would-consider-a-comeback-at-le-mans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/950833\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month marked two years since Daniel Ricciardo<\/a>\u2019s last motor race to this day, as the eight-time grand prix winner regretfully, discreetly bowed out of Formula 1 \u2013 but is his career over?<\/p>\n

Ricciardo admits it likely is, having come to terms with the way his F1 stint ended \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m not 100% there, but I\u2019m 90%,\u201d he said of his quest of closure \u2013 but he might still be interested in further opportunities, as long as they don\u2019t require a season-long commitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cA year ago, I would have said, \u2018I will never put a helmet on again, I\u2019m done, that\u2019s it\u2019,\u201d Ricciardo told the Beyond The Grid podcast. \u201cBut there is something there where I\u2019m like, it would be nice to finish a racing career a bit more on my terms; to do something that, when I take the helmet off, I\u2019m smiling and happy. Maybe that\u2019s the last bit of closure I need.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thought of doing a full championship still doesn\u2019t really sound that exciting. Probably a one-off, like a one-off Le Mans.<\/p>\n

\u201cF1 is so selfish \u2013 in a necessary way. Yes, you have team-mates, but that\u2019s your first opponent and all that. I think to share a car with other drivers and to actually have real team-mates to share data and help out, I think it would be \u2013 especially now, at this point where that insane fire and whatever ruthlessness, that has faded to a degree. I think I\u2019ll just enjoy it. It would be the form of driving and kind of companionship that I would really enjoy, and I think it would make me smile and feel good about the art of competition again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

\"Daniel <\/p>\n

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren<\/p>\n

Photo by: Clive Mason \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ricciardo explained he never enjoyed driving all that much and mostly revelled in competition, though his last few years in F1 dampened his enthusiasm. Le Mans could be a new way to find fulfillment, but the Australian \u2013 who hasn\u2019t been training the way he used to \u2013 is cautious about that prospect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I need to open the box again? I don\u2019t know,\u201d Ricciardo pondered. \u201cThat\u2019s why I haven\u2019t rushed into making a decision on anything, because, again, I want to make sure I\u2019m not doing it for ego or for some fairy-tale ending. It has to be because it\u2019s right inside me and I really want to do it, and it\u2019s not to please others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to lie, there\u2019s a part of me which would love to do it for all the people that cared and supported and loved me over the years and also hated the way it ended. So, yes, there is certainly a part of me which feels for the fans, but it has obviously to be for me and my reasons first and foremost.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the hard part \u2013 would it open the box? I don\u2019t think it will; as I said, I\u2019m much more at peace with everything, but then, who am I kidding? Would I go to Le Mans just to go and compete and just be happy to be there, or would I go there to try and win?<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as I want to say, \u2018Oh, just be happy, just soaking in the experience\u2019, we all know once the helmet\u2019s on it\u2019s different. I can\u2019t deny that I would want to go and do it properly. And that\u2019s maybe something I need to understand as well \u2013 is my heart in it?\u201d<\/p>\n

A Ricciardo-Verstappen-Vettel trio?
\n \"Sebastian <\/p>\n

Sebastian Vettel tests the Porsche 963<\/p>\n

Photo by: Porsche Motorsport<\/p>\n

When it comes to the drivers Ricciardo would dream of sharing that companionship with, other Red Bull icons come up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to put pressure on him, but obviously Max [Verstappen] is a name that would be high on the list. We talked about Red Bull obviously in 2018, and what if, and what if<\/a>; I was trying to get back at the team at the end of my career, so maybe that\u2019s a way that we could give the people what they want,\u201d Ricciardo chuckled.<\/p>\n

Verstappen has openly expressed interest in Le Mans for the future, and interviewer Tom Clarkson suggested the pair could be joined by Sebastian Vettel<\/a>, who tested Porsche\u2019s Hypercar challenger in 2024 but is yet to enter the French classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!\u201d Ricciardo exclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no denying that he still is extremely fast and would be fast in anything. I fricking love Seb, so that could be a nice little Red Bull reunion of sorts.\u201d<\/p>\n

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– The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last month marked two years since Daniel Ricciardo\u2019s last motor race to this day, as the eight-time grand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":950834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,2476,578,576,577,1885,3766,82,1194,325208],"class_list":["post-950833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-daniel-ricciardo","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-max-verstappen","tag-sebastian-vettel","tag-sports","tag-wec","tag-why-daniel-ricciardo-would-consider-a-comeback-at-le-mans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=950833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/950834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}