Daniel Ricciardo replaces Nyck de Vries at Alpha Tauri
Daniel Ricciardo is to return to F1 replacing Nyck de Vries at Alpha Tauri from next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Pressure and speculation about the Dutch former Formula E champion’s future has been growing following a disappointing start to his first full season in F1.
Throughout Tuesday, it emerged that De Vries has been sacked halfway through the season following a disappointing start to his F1 career with the Italian team. Alongside fellow rookie Logan Sargeant, De Vries is the only driver yet to register points in 2023 as he struggled for pace compared to team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
In a statement Alpha Tauri said “ Scuderia AlphaTauri announces that Daniel Ricciardo will be joining the team on loan from Red Bull Racing for the remainder of the Formula 1 season, starting from the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix,” the team said in a statement.
Team Franz Tost “I’m very pleased to welcome Daniel back into the team. There’s no doubt about his driving skills, and he already knows many of us, so his integration will be easy and straight forward. The team will also profit a lot from his experience, as he is an eight-time Formula 1 grand prix winner.”
While De Vries’s season hasn’t been helped by AlphaTauri underperforming with this season’s AT04, which has left the team last in the constructors’ championship after ten races with just two points.
The Dutchman has been outperformed by his teammate eight to ten in the Qualifying head-to-head. He is last in the drivers’ championship.
For several weeks the man in charge of Red Bull’s driver programme, Dr Helmut Marko’s patience with the former F2 and FE champion was wearing thin, giving De Vries repeated hints that his future was under immediate threat.
Ricciardo re-joined Red Bull as third driver after being let go by McLaren at the end of 2022, he opted to take a sabbatical to recharge his batteries after a punishing stint with the Woking team, but has been keeping race ready and completed his first test with the current Red Bull RB19 on Tuesday.
Ricciardo has now been handed twelve races at AlphaTauri to prove to Red Bull that he has been able to rebuild himself after his 2022 exit, potentially intending to challenge Sergio Perez for the Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen.
Alpha Tauri had previously been tipped to promote Liam Lawson, who has had an impressive Super Formula campaign in Japan this year, but last month team boss Franz Tost suggested Ricciardo could be the team’s best bet if its youngsters were not yet ready to step up.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner commented: “It is great to see Daniel hasn’t lost any form while away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his sim sessions translate on track.
“His times during the tyre test were extremely competitive. It was a very impressive drive and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at Scuderia AlphaTauri.”
Ricciardo previously drove for AlphaTauri, when it was Toro Rosso, in 2012 and 2013 before earning a promotion to Red Bull’s main team. The Australian took seven of his eight wins with Red Bull, before moving on to Renault and then McLaren.
Alongside fellow rookie Logan Sargeant, De Vries was the only driver yet to register points in 2023 as he struggled for pace compared to team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.