Ricciardo’s return to F1 suits Red Bull in many ways and team boss ‘thinks’ Australian wants to return to Red Bull in 2025
It was no secret that Nyck De Vries’ fate was sealed. The decision to remove him from AlphaTauri was not a question of “if” but of “when”. Nothing new at Red Bull, used to treating the driver change as a matter almost like deciding to put sugar or a sweetener in the coffee.
What caught the eye was the decision to put Daniel Ricciardo in place of the incinerated Dutchman. After all, the Australian had not been very convincing for years after leaving Red Bull and his time at McLaren was extremely unsatisfactory for both parties.
When he was announced as Red Bull’s third driver late last year, it meant a return to basics. After all, Ricciardo was a bull rider from the ground up and was seen as a potential champion and team leader. At least until Max Verstappen arrives.
But there was almost unanimity: a shadow would have fallen over Sergio Perez. After all, the Mexican fluctuates too much in his performance, even though he played the co-driver role in a way that Red Bull has been looking for for years.
But the Mexican hasn’t been as positive as the team had hoped. In this way, Dr. Marko’s Machiavellian pilot grinding machine comes into action…
Ricciardo’s return ends up encountering several points: first, he replaces Nyck De Vries, who showed a much lower performance than expected; second, it’s another step in Ricciardo’s re-adaptation to the category, who only tested on the simulator and went around with the current Red Bull a few days ago at Silverstone.
In an interview with the F1 Nation podcast, Red Bull boss Christian Horner let himself “slip” that according to him Ricciardo’s goal is to steal Perez’s job in 2025. In principle, Helmut Marko has already guaranteed Perez until the end of his contract (2024), considering he doesn’t have good options for an immediate exchange.
The fact is that Ricciardo has taken a humble approach and his return to AlphaTauri should be seen as an opportunity to readjust without pressure. The fact that the AT04 has so far proved to be a difficult car and above all with brake problems (which can be complicated for Ricciardo, a driver who excels in braking) could be a complication for those who are rebuilding their image.
The prospect of a new AlphaTauri for 2024 (even with a new name) opens up this field for Ricciardo and he knows this could be his last big break in F1. The category needs him for his good spirits (he’s become a DTS darling for it) and Red Bull know they need someone to keep the pressure up not only on Perez, but also Tsunoda, who is already seen as a card out of the pack on behalf of the Aston Marin/Honda deal.
Watch as Ricciardo returns to action. His eyes will be on him and it will do no good to apply pressure beyond what he already has. In addition to Red Bull, there is one more interested in Ricciardo’s recovery: himself
Source: Terra
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