Daniel Ricciardo will replace Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri for the remainder of the 2023 Formula One season.
Ricciardo, 34, has spent the 2023 season as a reserve driver for Red Bull and has been loaned to their sibling squad. He returns to the grid next week at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“I’m stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family,” Ricciardo said in a statement.
The veteran driver is an eight-time race winner, grabbing seven victories for Red Bull after joining them in 2014. He later joined Renault for two seasons in 2019, then moved on to McLaren for two seasons in 2021.
Ricciardo scored a victory at Monza during his first year with McLaren, however, his follow-up campaign in 2022 was a disappointment as he finished 11th in the championship and 85 points back of teammate Lando Norris. McLaren bought out the third year of Ricciardo’s contract, leading to his return to the Red Bull family.
Ricciardo has been praised for his work in the simulator and returned to the track Tuesday for tire testing.
“‘It was 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,” Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said in a statement. “His times during the tire 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 replaces a struggling de Vries who is a rookie on the F1 grid. The 28-year-old de Vries sits tied for last in the driver’s standings with zero points.
His best result this season was a 12th-place finish in Monaco.
While Red Bull has dominated this season winning every race and holding a commanding lead in the constructors’ championship, AlphaTauri is at the opposite end of the spectrum in last place. Yuki Tsunoda has scored the team’s only points with 10th-place finishes in Australia and Azerbaijan.
Red Bull are no strangers to shuffling their lineups in-season. Daniil Kvyat was demoted to Toro Rosso, now known as AlphaTauri, after four races into the 2016 season and was replaced by Max Verstappen, who won in his Red Bull Racing debut in Spain. Pierre Gasly was also sent down to Toro Rosso during the summer break in 2019 with Alex Albon earning a promotion.
from Sportsnet.ca
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