Ricciardo handed Schumacher inspiration for ‘life after F1’

Daniel Ricciardo has been told that he should follow Mick Schumacher's example of proving there is "life after F1."

Ricciardo lost his RB F1 seat after the Singapore Grand Prix, to be replaced by Liam Lawson, with the Australian not likely to return to grand prix racing, given he is not expected to be a contender for the only vacant seat at Stake outside of the Red Bull eco-system.

Schumacher has been without a seat since leaving Haas at the end of 2022, but despite spells as the Mercedes reserve and Alpine WEC driver, his chances of ever-returning to the F1 grid appear over.

Despite the end of his grand prix career, Ricciardo has been told that he should follow the example of Schumacher by Juan Pablo Montoya.

"So the question is, does he enjoy driving enough, or does he like the social side of becoming a Red Bull ambassador?" six-time grand prix winner Montoya mused to Gambling Zone.

"Should he ome to races and do events and things and enjoy that without the pressure of driving, or maybe he just walks away and says thank you to everybody, because if for him, driving is enough and what it is really all about for him he could find a seat in anything.

“There's life after F1 if you want it. The best example is Mick Schumacher. Mick had F1 trouble big time and it didn't look like he would ever have another job. 

"Now he’s an ambassador for Mercedes and he's racing in the World Endurance Championship for Alpine.

"Danny could do that. He has such a big personality, and he's got a huge following and he is very popular.

"If you think about me, everybody thinks I'm an asshole. If you think of Daniel: 'Oh, he's such a lovely guy. Maybe I need to do some more Instagram!"