AlphaTauri has announced that Daniel Ricciardo will be joining the team on loan from Red Bull for the remainder of the season, starting from the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix.

Along with the identity of the infamous BBC presenter, speculation of Ricciardo's return to the grid has dominated social media for much of the past 48 hours.

The news follows what Red Bull described as a "strong performance in today's tyre test at Silverstone.

"I'm very pleased to welcome Daniel back into the team," said Franz Tost. "There's no doubt about his driving skill, 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.

"I would like to thank Nyck for his valuable contribution during his time with AlphaTauri, and I wish him all the best for the future."

"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," said Christian Horner.

"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 AlphaTauri."

"I'm stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family!" said Ricciardo who made his F1 debut in 2011 with Hispania, joining Toro Rosso the following season.

In 2014 he moved up to Red Bull, leaving for Renault at the end of 2018 as it became clear that teammate Max Verstappen was the favoured driver.

Despite the big money he was receiving at Renault, the Australian was tempted to join McLaren for 2021, however things never seemed to gel for him at Woking, firstly in terms of being happy with the car and then being openly criticised by team boss Zak Brown, even though Ricciardo had given the team its first Grand Prix win in nine seasons.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 12/07/2023 1:09

"Great news but not really unexpected. Red Bull are no fools and they would've seen how DR has pulled himself up out the darkness that he entered into at McL. McL couldn't give him a decent car to drive and the end was pre ordained. Norris had grown into that car and didn't have to adjust his natural driving style...the exact opposite of DR. His return to RB was the best thing he could've done and just gauging by his current demeanour he's got his 'spirit mojo' back.

DR will not drag AT back to regular points finishes but he will be building his confidence levels back towards the future of both RB teams and at the same time help plan for the new AT, which will be renamed and remanaged/repurposed along with closer ties to the RB prime team. DR will be an integral part of that 'reset'. It's a pity that DV has been 'pink slipped' but that was always on the table if progress was in scarce supply. Just very happy to see DR back on the grid. He brings a unique character back and that can only be good.I'm equally sure that there will be no naivety on either side of the Team/Ricciardo. I'm sure that side of things will be well taken care of. Let's just hope that good things come out of this and a return of the 'honey badger'is seen as a positive.
"

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by Rock Doc, 11/07/2023 21:44

"@Tom2681

I agree. Daniel has to deliver. Normally that would be a given but after his McLaren stint there is now question.

It could so easily have been Perez instead of Nyck getting the elbow. Perez still has a bit of time but not if we see the Daniel come through from the back of the grid."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by Bill Hopgood, 11/07/2023 19:54

"Good to see the Red Bull driver development program working, especially for the young up and coming drivers that take a bit of time to get to grips with the rigours of F1.

In regards to de Vries, tough times and I suspect he got dragged down by one poor result knocking on to another and hammering his confidence, leading to a spiral downward.
Hopefully he can recover from this and be on the radar of other teams / series as he was last season. It's a shame he didn't get to race at his home GP.

Liam Lawson misses out on a potential drive however I think Red Bull will be keeping their powder dry regarding new drivers coming in as they do not want a repeat of Kviat, Albon, Gasley musical chairs of a few seasons ago.
Also, this years Alpha Tauri is not a good car, so Lawson potentially dodges a bullet.

Tsunoda, looks to have dodged a bullet a couple of seasons ago, perhaps due to the current PU supplier.

Ricciardo gets a shot however if he doesn't do better than de Vries, that's it for his F1 chances at Red Bull or potentially anywhere else.

A lot of eyeballs will be watching the next GP weekend to see how Ricciardo's return plays out.
"

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by Chester, 11/07/2023 17:55

"Alpha Tauri is hardly a team where you can stand out. De Vries true ability seems unknown. And it may be very difficult for Ricciardo to do well at Alpha Tauri besides beating Tsunoda.

Happy for Ricciardo, but seems quite unfair to DeVries."

Rating: Positive (3) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by Tom2681, 11/07/2023 17:36

"@Rock Doc
"Perez will breathe a little easier"
Hyperventilating you mean, haha. I think they're testing Ricciardo to see if he's still got it. If he does, it's bye-bye Checo."

Rating: Positive (7) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

6. Posted by KKK, 11/07/2023 17:16

"@rock doc I think its the other way. If Daniel excels, Helmut wont hesitate to drop Perez for Daniel. As fat-r as I am concerned Im glad Daniel has a ride this year. De Vries must feel gutted, he just needs to keep his head up and doesnt walk away from F1"

Rating: Positive (10) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

7. Posted by Rock Doc, 11/07/2023 16:35

"Perez will breathe a little easier knowing Daniel now has a seat and has to prove himself credible for the Red Bull seat. He has a little more time to pull up his game.

However if Daniel storms the next few grand prix then I think his time at Red Bull will be done.

It will be great to see the honey badger back on the track. I think there will be a few at the back of the pack that will be taking some note of this move."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

8. Posted by F1nerd, 11/07/2023 16:17

"It would also be a good idea to give de Vries the reserve driver role so the team can prime him for the future."

Rating: Positive (5) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

9. Posted by F1nerd, 11/07/2023 16:13

"I think its very unfair to boot him out after only 10 races. Ok he sits pointless down the bottom end of the drivers standings but the more experienced Tsunoda only has 2 points from 10 races. At this point last year Tsunods had 11 points. Should they not look at the car as apposed to the driver. "

Rating: Positive (9) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Official: Ricciardo returns to AlphaTauri

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page