The Australian left Red Bull in 2018, opting to join Renault, but has only claimed one victory since then, with a McLaren team that dropped him in 2022.
However, Red Bull's sister team offered him a spot back in the sport in July 2023, and he has raced with RB (previously AlphaTauri) ever since.
Ricciardo's viral Instagram post
Since his return, Ricciardo has struggled to perform consistently, and is due to be out of contract at the end of the current season.
His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, has already been signed to stay with the team into the future, leading many to suggest that Ricciardo will be replaced by a Red Bull junior driver, with both Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar waiting in the wings.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko recently suggested that the Faenza-based outfit should specifically be for nurturing young talent, leaving a 35-year-old Ricciardo as a potential block to that young talent.
Ricciardo himself has suggested that he is not looking elsewhere for a seat on the F1 grid, suggesting this may well be the end of his F1 career altogether.
Now, the Australian has taken to Instagram to show off some of his activities from a mini break from the sport in between races, including watching an NFL match, posing in the sun with friends, and being patted on the head by a well-known Disney character.
In amongst the post, however, was a video displaying an emotional scene from hit US film The Wedding Singer, in which a character is displayed as saying: "All I really want is someone to hold me. And tell me that everything is gonna be alright."
This video in particular led to fans reaching out to Ricciardo, asking him if he was okay. One user wrote: "DR! Its gonna be alright don't ya worry! We are here for you! š„¹šā„ļø."
Another questioned his choices of images and videos, suggesting a deeper meaning: "i feel thereās a deeper meaning behind this; but i could just be overthinking".