Ricciardo opens door to Le Mans return with Verstappen as dream team-mate

Daniel Ricciardo has left the door open to a racing comeback, telling the F1 Beyond the Grid podcast that a one-off start at the Le Mans 24 Hours appeals to him — and that Max Verstappen would be his ideal co-driver.

The Australian has been absent from competitive motorsport since his Formula 1 exit following the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. Speaking candidly about his mindset since leaving the grid, Ricciardo admitted his attitude toward racing again has shifted over the past year.

“A year ago, I would have said I will never put a helmet on again. I’m done. That’s it,” he said. “But there is something there where I’m like, it’d be nice for me to also finish a racing career a bit more on my terms. So to do something that, when I take the helmet off, I’m smiling and happy, and maybe that’s the last bit of closure I need.”

Ricciardo was clear that a full season holds no appeal, but the unique format of endurance racing — sharing a car rather than fighting team-mates as rivals — is what draws him toward Le Mans specifically.

“To share a car with other drivers and to actually have real team-mates to share data and help out,” he said. “I would just enjoy it. It would be the form of driving and companionship that I would really enjoy.”

When asked who he would most want alongside him, the eight-time grand prix winner pointed to his former Red Bull partner, though he was careful not to apply too much pressure publicly.

“I don’t want to put pressure on him, but obviously Max is a name that would be high on the list,” Ricciardo said. “We talked about Red Bull obviously in 2018 and ‘what if’, and I was trying to get back at the team at the end of my career. So maybe that’s a way that we could — I say give the people what they want.”

Ricciardo and Verstappen were team-mates at Red Bull during the 2016–18 seasons, a pairing widely regarded as one of the most competitive in recent F1 history. A reunion at La Sarthe, even in a one-off capacity, would attract considerable attention from motorsport fans on both sides of the rivalry.