Daniel Ricciardo to skip US Grand Prix as Supercars officials renew Bathurst 1000 bid

Daniel Ricciardo is staying out of the limelight following the end of his Formula One career, as Supercars officials make a renewed plea to get the 35-year-old into the Bathurst 1000.

Two weeks after he lost his F1 seat Red Bull have confirmed the Aussie will not attend the United States Grand Prix later this month.

Ricciardo is a popular figure in Austin after living it up in Texas in recent years, and would have been welcomed by organisers and fans even without driving.

“He’s really, really loved in Texas and I think he likes it here,” US Grand Prix promoter Bobby Epstein said prior to Red Bull’s confirmation.

“I hope he’s still coming here because we’ve got a lot of people that would love to shake his hand or get his autograph or take a picture or just see him around town. We’ll keep him busy.“

American supporters will instead wait and see if Ricciardo moves to IndyCar, while Australians are banking on a Supercars cameo.

Ricciardo has previously said he still has “a lot of fire” left but remains concerned about finding “true fulfilment” in another category after winning eight F1 races.

IndyCar would be an obvious destination as the world’s No.2 open-wheel series but he said it “still scares” him.

Ricciardo has also spoken of his desire to compete at Mount Panorama — and the door is wide open.

“If Daniel’s listening, we want you to race here,” Supercars chief executive Shane Howard said on Thursday from the Bathurst 1000.

“Wouldn’t that be fantastic? To have someone of Daniel Ricciardo’s quality as a driver.

“He’s got an enormous personality. To have him in one of our cars would be very special.

“We’ve got an open invite to Daniel.”

Howard’s offer follows an earlier comment after Ricciardo’s F1 axing that he would reach out to his management at an appropriate time.

Ricciardo has sampled Supercars machinery in the past.

He opened up last month on his thought process for a post-F1 career.

“It’s hard. Even talking about being in (F1) and fighting for even a 10th place every now and then... it’s maybe the same with doing another series,” Ricciardo said.

“And no disrespect to other series — I’m a fan of NASCAR and a lot of other forms of motorsport — but because I’ve been there and experienced the highest of highs, will I get true fulfillment doing something else?

“No guarantee I’ll be awesome doing something else. Is that actually going to scratch the itch and give me what I want? I don’t know. I’d probably say more no than yes.”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner expects Ricciardo to end up with an on-screen role.

“He’s so good in front of the camera, he’s a natural entertainer and showman,” Horner said on the F1 Nation podcast.

“He will be for sure in front of the camera at some point, and I’m sure there’ll be a documentary or something that’ll be fascinating.”

The F1 season resumes next weekend in Texas with Liam Lawson replacing Ricciardo at Red Bull’s second team RB.

- with AAP