Daniel Ricciardo act comes to light after Mexican Grand Prix stunner

Vision has emerged of the moment Daniel Ricciardo gave Esteban Ocon a 'finger gun' salute as he overtook his rival during a stunning display at the Mexico Grand Prix.

Ricciardo returned to form in staggering fashion on Sunday, finishing seventh after starting 11th and earning driver of the day honours.

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The Aussie driver produced one of his best displays of a dismal 2022 campaign, mowing down a number of rival drivers during a brilliant surge through the field.

Vision has since emerged of the moment Ricciardo sized up Alpine driver Ocon before shooting him down with his finger and leaving him in his dust.

Shreya Sanjeev of EssentiallySports tweeted: “Daniel Ricciardo you f***ing legend. Saw the honey badger on track today.”

Others declared that Ricciardo had finally got his swagger back after a disappointing year culminated in McLaren terminating the Aussie driver's deal one year early.

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Speaking after the race, Ricciardo gave his clearest indication yet about what 2023 will look like for him in Formula One.

Since McLaren announced an early termination of Ricciardo's contract in August, the Australian has seen several vacant seats filled ahead of next season.

Only Haas now have an empty seat on the grid for 2023, but Ricciardo is not interested in joining the team.

Looking ahead to the 2023 campaign when speaking to Sky Sports, Ricciardo acknowledged: "I can confidently say I won't be on the grid, behind a wheel.

"But I still want to be in the sport, I want to be working with a team, still with the ambition to be back on the grid in 2024.

"I feel like a bit of time away from a race seat will actually do me good, and then [I'll] try to rebuild something for 2024.

"The way the seasons are, it's pretty relentless, you don't really get a chance to rebuild.

"Everyone's different, but I truly believe that will be, in a way, a blessing in disguise for me. By doing less, I'll achieve more."

Ricciardo has been linked with a reserve role at Mercedes, but the Silver Arrows' team principal Toto Wolff was giving nothing away when asked about a potential move.

"We very much like him; he's a great character," Wolff said on Sunday.

"But we are not in a position yet to decide who is going to do reserve and be third driver."

While Ricciardo did confirm that a reserve driver role was his plan for 2023, he said a decision has not been made about which team that will be with.

“That (being a reserve driver) is the plan. I honestly don’t (know who it will be with). I’m certainly talking to teams. I still obviously want to keep a foot in the door for 2024,” he said.

“I’m sure seeing the light go out in race one I’ll already have that itch so I will want to be back in 2024.”

“I don’t want to say there’s a lot (of options) because I think if there was a lot I’d probably be in a race seat! But there is, how do I say it, there’s enough to certainly keep me interested and keep me on.”

with agencies

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