Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard advises Daniel Ricciardo to reconsider a potential switch to another racing class. Unless the Australian immediately dominates the racing class, such as the Australian V8 Supercars or the American IndyCar, Ricciardo could suffer significant damage to his reputation, according to the Scottish former driver.
After the Singapore Grand Prix, it was announced that Ricciardo would no longer race for Visa RB in Austin. The affable Australian is being immediately replaced by reserve driver Liam Lawson. Consequently, Ricciardo is now in search of a new job, and has already received an offer from the CEO of the V8 Supercars Championship to race in the Australian racing class.
Former F1 driver David Coulthard, however, advises Ricciardo against switching to another motorsport. “The risk of that (switching to another racing class) is that, unless you’re going to dominate and the chances of that are quite small, you just become another driver. You then lose the magic of being an ex-Grand Prix driver,” Coulthard explains in his Formula For Success podcast.
Back to Red Bull?
The Scottish former driver knows where Ricciardo would feel at home. “He could certainly be an asset from a media perspective, working in the media and all those commercial opportunities. But maybe he has other plans.” Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has already indicated that Ricciardo’s former employer is definitely interested in a new collaboration with the Australian.
Whatever Ricciardo ends up doing, according to Coulthard, racing fans are not yet rid of the man from Perth. “He leaves the sport, especially in this modern era of Netflix, with a much wider social following than the previous generation. There will be many opportunities.”
