With just two weeks and two Grands Prix left before the summer break, Formula 1 is entering the silly season, a time of year loved and hated by F1 fans. This is when rumors and speculation about driver transfers and team changes start to circulate. However, in 2023, the silly season got off to an early start with the announcement that Daniel Ricciardo will be returning to a racing seat with AlphaTauri.
Ricciardo’s return to Formula 1 seemed inevitable ever since he signed with Red Bull Racing as a reserve driver. But what is surprising is the team he finds himself back with. It’s not the top team he was expected to join. Last season, Ricciardo rejected offers from teams at the back of the grid, opting to wait for a more competitive opportunity. Now, those teams find themselves performing better than his current team.
The talk surrounding Red Bull this season has been about Ricciardo needing to rebuild his confidence and performance. He seemed like a different driver compared to when he left Red Bull a few seasons ago. However, with time and support, his spark has returned, and he once again has the desire to drive and race. His simulator times and test results have been impressive, leading to the decision to bring him back to Formula 1.
But the car he will be driving, the AlphaTauri AT04, is not on par with the Red Bull RB19. It’s arguably one of the weakest cars on the grid at the moment. This is a risk Ricciardo is taking, as he will be driving a car he is not familiar with and that is less competitive than the previous car he drove.
The timing of Ricciardo’s return shouldn’t come as a surprise to those familiar with the Red Bull program. The team has a history of putting pressure on drivers to perform and improve by pushing them out of their comfort zones. Ricciardo knows this well, as he made his debut alongside the experienced Tonio Liuzzi at HRT to assess his ability and put pressure on him.
Therefore, Ricciardo should be aware that his return to Formula 1 may not solely be driven by his own interests. A strong performance from him at AlphaTauri will increase the pressure on Sergio Perez, the underperforming Red Bull driver. Even if Perez insists he isn’t concerned about these moves, it will be hard for him not to feel the pressure.
Ricciardo holds a special place within the Red Bull family, especially in relation to Max Verstappen. The team has been searching for a suitable replacement since Ricciardo left, but none have been able to replicate the competitive yet brotherly partnership that Ricciardo and Verstappen had. If Ricciardo proves himself to be back to his best for the rest of the year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him return to Red Bull Racing in 2024, potentially replacing Perez.
However, Ricciardo’s success at AlphaTauri depends on which version of him shows up. Will it be the race-winning driver who pushed Verstappen to his limits, or the one who struggled and left his McLaren experience in pieces? Additionally, the car he will have for the rest of the season will likely be even less competitive than the one he had in 2022, which may not be as compatible with his driving style as he would hope.
The next few races will reveal what Ricciardo is capable of achieving at AlphaTauri and whether he can pressure Perez and potentially secure a future at Red Bull Racing.
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With just two weeks and two Grands Prix until the summer break, Formula 1 finds itself entering the time of year loved and hated by F1 fans: the silly season. Born out of both fantastic hope and realistic expectation, it’s the closest thing our sport has to a transfer window.
But in 2023, Silly Season got off to an early start with the news last week that Daniel Ricciardo returns to a racing seat with AlphaTauri.
READ MORE: Ricciardo will replace De Vries in AlphaTauri at the Hungarian Grand Prix
His return to a Formula 1 seat seemed inevitable from the moment he signed with Red Bull Racing as a reserve driver, but the way he finds himself back up the standings is nonetheless somewhat surprising.
Because this isn’t the top line you thought you were expecting. He had rebuffed advances from teams at the back of the field when they offered him a lifeguard late last season. Teams that today, find themselves with a clear competitive advantage over the one that is now incorporated.
Talk of Red Bull this season has been about a driver in need of rebuilding, one the team barely recognized as the man who had left them for new pastures just four short seasons before.
However, with time and support, the spark returned and with it the desire to drive and, ultimately, to race. Her times on the simulator were impressive. Her times in the tests astounded.
Daniel Ricciardo returns to F1 with AlphaTauri
And so the decision was made to return it to Formula 1. But the AlphaTauri AT04 is not the Red Bull RB19. While the Australian has impressed with the best car in the field, he will be armed for the rest of the season with a car that is, at present, arguably the weakest in Formula 1. A car that is known. A car you haven’t driven.
The timing should come as no surprise to anyone who has seen how the Red Bull program has worked over the last 20 years. And it would be impossible to see the events of recent weeks outside the spectrum of Sergio Pérez’s drop in competitiveness.
ANALYSIS: How Ricciardo got a second chance with AlphaTauri’s stunning return
The performance of racing drivers is not inspired by positive reinforcement in Helmut Marko’s school of hard hits, but by turning up the pressure. So it has always been.
Ricciardo knows this very well, his own debut came at HRT alongside the well-known Red Bull Tonio Liuzzi to weigh up his ability and put pressure on the then young Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari.
Therefore, Ricciardo should be well aware that his return to Formula 1 will probably not have his own interests at the center of the decision-making process. A strong Ricciardo at AlphaTauri will increase the pressure on an underperforming Sergio Perez at Red Bull.
Whether Marko and Christian Horner have a genuine desire to put the Aussie back in the A-team, perception is enough, and no matter how much Checo insists that he isn’t obsessing over these Machiavellian moves, he won’t be able to help himself.
After all, Daniel Ricciardo holds a special place within the Red Bull family, and in particular within the setup that today revolves around Max Verstappen. The team has been searching for a suitable replacement since Ricciardo surprised the paddock by walking away.
And no matter who they’ve tried it with, inside and outside the Red Bull family, none have been able to form the same competitive yet brotherly partnership that Verstappen and Ricciardo represented.
No driver has pushed Verstappen that close. No runner has been so respected by the now two-time champion. No association has shared the successes of others with such apparently genuine joy.
If this move gets the best of Perez, he will likely get a stay of execution. If it weren’t, and if Ricciardo proves he’s back to his best for the rest of the year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Ricciardo return to Red Bull Racing in 2024 with Pérez paid out of his contract.
But this all depends on the driver of the AlphaTauri #3. What Daniel Ricciardo appears in Hungary? What presents the alternative to Red Bull? The race winner who pushed Verstappen? Or the one who left his experience at McLaren in pieces?
Again, and lest we forget, the car you get for the rest of 2023 will probably be even less competitive and even less compatible than the one you were forced to put up with in 2022. So how will it compare to Yuki Tsunoda who, with the best will in the world, still don’t consider yourself as tough a competitor as Lando Norris?
Ricciardo comeback interview – “I’m not afraid of anything. I’m ready”
If Ricciardo fails to impress, Tsunoda’s stock will undoubtedly rise, but Ricciardo’s will plummet and spiral towards the end of his Formula 1 career. The decision to get back into an uncompetitive car has very little Unless you look at it from the perspective that, once again, he’s simply a pawn in Red Bull’s endless carousel of drivers.
But none of this is particularly silly for Silly Season. It all feels pretty tame and easily imaginable.
It is the consequences that should interest us most. Liam Lawson would appear to be the clear favorite for the AlphaTauri seat alongside Tsunoda in 2024, regardless of what happens to Ricciardo for the rest of the year.
If Daniel moves to RBR next season, the AT seat is free for Lawson. If Ricciardo fails to impress, then again, the seat would probably be open for Lawson as well.
If Perez is paid out of his Red Bull contract, many believe he would walk away from Formula 1. Some have suggested he could find himself alongside former teammate Nico Hulkenberg at Haas.
But the hopeless romantic could imagine a scenario, albeit a highly unlikely one, in which Aston Martin acknowledges the disparity between its drivers’ points, thanks Lance Stroll for his work in building the team, and allows him to disappear into the snowy mountain where he is. so happy, opening up the possibility of a hero return for Perez to ‘team Silverstone’.
READ MORE: 5 stories we’re excited about ahead of the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix
And after impressing on his Grand Prix debut for the team and maintaining a close relationship with James Vowles from their time together at Mercedes, Nyck de Vries then turns down the myriad of offers in Formula E, the World Endurance Championship and the Indycar to enter. alongside fellow Red Bull refugee Alex Albon in a rejuvenated Williams.
That’s a bit more silly season, isn’t it?
Seriously though, it’s great to see Daniel Ricciardo back in Formula 1. Where he ends up though is most intriguing of all…
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.buxton-could-ricciardos-racing-return-be-the-first-step-back-to-a-seat-at.0BoLw7YgVzbSehhE9Dp1u.html
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