Ricciardo has secret plan for next season to win again

Daniel Ricciardo stresses that he will definitely still be present in Formula 1 next year. The McLaren driver does not have a contract for next season but tells Formula1.com that there is "a plan in place" to return to the top.

After two years at McLaren, Ricciardo will leave the team at the end of this season. He will be replaced by his compatriot Oscar Piastri. Although Ricciardo's overall results have not been thriving - he is currently over 70 points behind teammate Lando Norris - the Australian still has the honour of being the only person to have won a race for McLaren in the past decade.

It was also the only win Ricciardo could put to his name since leaving Red Bull at the end of 2018. At the time, he still indicated he was pinning his hopes on Renault and later McLaren to fight for the title, but neither team could deliver. For next year, Ricciardo has already announced he will not return to the sport as a regular driver, but apparently, he is still working on another plan.

'You will continue to see me'

Asked what he will do next year, Ricciardo replied: "You will see me around. It’s going to look different for me, but there is still very much still a plan in place. So, it’s not that I am checking out and saying 'see you later'; it’s far from that. I’m just putting in a plan to honestly try to get me back to the front of the grid and win races and do all the stuff I know I can do."