The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf revealed on Tuesday that the AlphaTauri team, which belongs to Red Bull, would be on the verge of replacing Nyck De Vries with Daniel Ricciardo, who does not have a seat this season but who has carried out tire tests in the morning.
Daniel Ricciardo back in F1? It’s probably very soon! Not renewed by McLaren at the end of 2022, the 34-year-old Australian driver must be content with test driver status at Red Bull this season, but he could well move up the ranks next week. The Dutch newspaper The Telegraphoften well informed, revealed on Tuesday that the Dutch driver Nyck De Vries will lose his seat at AlphaTauri and will be replaced for the Hungarian Grand Prix by Daniel Ricciardo.
De Vries (28), crowned Formula 2 champion in 2019 and Formula E in 2021, is missing his first season in Formula 1, with no points taken in the first ten races (a retirement), while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda took two. The Italian team, dead last in the constructors’ standings (seven points behind Alfa Romeo) would like to try an electric shock by replacing De Vries with a much more experienced driver, already winner of eight Grand Prix and twice third in the world championship. (in 2014 and 2016). This would not be a first for Red Bull, which owns AlphaTauri. We remember that in 2019, Pierre Gasly had lost his place in the queen team due to results deemed insufficient, and had been replaced by Alexander Albon.
Ricciardo imagined himself as a reserve driver all year round
While waiting for the information to become official, Daniel Ricciardo was truly driving an F1 car this morning. He has indeed carried out Pirelli tire tests on the Red Bull at Silverstone in Great Britain. “I’m definitely still in a very good position – I’m very happy with it,” Ricciardo told the microphone.ESPN a few days ago about his reserve pilot status. Does that mean I’m happy to do this for the next two or three years? Probably not. But I think for this year it’s definitely a good thing for me. “It will be more like half a year…