Daniel Ricciardo will make a sensational return to front-line Formula 1 racing at the upcoming Hungarian GP, with the Australian set to replace Nyck de Vries at the AlphaTauri team for the rest of the season.
Ricciardo was in action today at Silverstone, driving Red Bull’s current RB19 car in a Pirelli tyre test. But it’s now been announced that Ricciardo – currently Red Bull’s third driver – will take the place of De Vries from Hungary onwards at AlphaTauri. “I am stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family!” said Ricciardo of his new posting, after impressing in his Silverstone test.
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“I’m very pleased to welcome Daniel back into the team,” commented Franz Tost, AlphaTauri Team Principal. “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.”
Dutch driver De Vries – who starred in a one-off drive for Williams at Monza last year, claiming ninth position – has endured a difficult first season of full-time F1 racing and is yet to score, with AlphaTauri rooted to the bottom of the constructors’ standings.
That’s led to him being replaced after 10 Grands Prix, with eight-time race winner Ricciardo – who lost his drive with McLaren at the end of 2022 following two trying seasons with the team – set to re-join the Faenza-based squad with whom he spent two seasons in 2012 and 2013 in their Toro Rosso guise, before his promotion to Red Bull for 2014.
Ricciardo went on to net seven victories for Red Bull, before joining Renault for two seasons from 2019, then moving onto McLaren for 2021.
Ricciardo had been outspoken in recent interviews about his desire to make it back to a full-time F1 seat, the Australian recently telling ESPN: “Right now, I do want to get back on the grid next year. I do feel like there’s certainly some unfinished business. I’m staying in the loop and staying prepared.”
Ricciardo’s first race back, meanwhile, will come at the venue where he scored the second of his F1 victories at the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix.
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