Daniel Ricciardo returns to F1! He replaces De Vries in the AlphaTauri stable

After a six-month break, Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo returns to the queen of motorsport. He will replace newcomer Nyck De Vries in the AlphaTauri stable from the Hungarian Grand Prix.

De Vries, the 2019 F2 champion, has been on thin ice at AlphaTauri since the start of the season. He has lagged behind his teammate in both qualifying and the races. After ten attempts, he hadn’t scored any points for the team, so the management decided to replace him.

Ricciardo will return to the Faenza team after ten years. He spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons with the team, then called Toro Rosso. His performances earned him a place in the Red Bull stable, where he scored seven victories.

The news of Ricciardo’s return came on the day he returned to the track behind the wheel of a Formula One car. He completed a test for Pirelli at Silverstone in the RB19.

Team boss Franz Tost commented enthusiastically on the acquisition of the Australian driver. “I am delighted to welcome Daniel back to the team. There is no doubt about his racing ability and he already knows many of the team members, so his integration will be easy. The team will also benefit from his experience as an eight-time F1 race winner,” he told the official F1 website.

The last of Ricciardo’s victories came in the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. Back then, he teamed up with Lando Norris to give McLaren its best possible result. First and second place, plus a point for the fastest lap of the race, which Ricciardo took at the very end.

But the rest of Ricciardo’s time in the British stable was not so successful. Despite winning Monza, he finished 45 points behind his teammate in 2021.

The 2022 season was even more tragic. While Norris finished the year in eighth place with 122 points, Ricciardo’s 37 points were only good enough for eleventh. McLaren therefore replaced the thirty-four-year-old driver with his compatriot Oscar Piastri.

This will give Ricciardo a chance to make amends for his performance in AlphaTauri in recent years. But it won’t be easy in the AlphaTauri. The Italian team is currently in last place in the Constructors’ Cup, having scored just two points.

Source: F1