After returning to the wheel on Wednesday to test the 2024 tyres, Daniel Ricciardo took over Nyck de Vries’ seat from AlphaTauri to end the season. For the Australian, everything changed during an exchange of phone calls between Helmut Marko and Christian Horner.
Daniel Ricciardo had a funny day on Tuesday. Present at Silverstone to take the wheel of the RB19 to test prototype Pirelli tires for the 2024 season, in particular to try out the absence of electric blankets, the Australian driver learned of his return to the starting grid from the Grand Prix. from Hungary, at AlphaTauri. Indeed, the former Renault and McLaren driver will replace Nyck de Vries, fired after ten races during which he was unable to finish in the points.
According to information from the American channel ESPN, it was all settled in a few minutes while the Perth native was driving the 2023 single-seater of the Red Bull Racing team. Training director based in Milton Keynes, Christian Horner picked up his phone to chat with Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor.
Daniel is back! 👊@danielricciardoon loan from @redbullracingwill be racing for us for the remainder of the #F1 season, starting from the Hungarian GP.
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— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) July 11, 2023
Ricciardo had already expressed his wish to return
The British leader confided on this occasion that the pace displayed by Daniel Ricciardo was impressive, all things considered, since the conditions were very different from those of the British Grand Prix, won last weekend by Max Verstappen. The Austrian would then have very quickly taken his phone to call back Christian Horner and announce his decision to fire Nyck de Vries, information which was then the subject of a leak in the press initiated by the manager of the Dutch driver.
This return of Daniel Ricciardo to the starting grid can even go back to a dinner between Christian Horner and the Australian earlier this year, during which the one who is nicknamed the “Honey Badger” said he wanted to end his sabbatical year and come back behind the wheel of a single-seater for Red Bull. The native of Perth did not have to wait very long to see his wish come true, to the detriment of a Nyck de Vries who, if his performances were not convincing, gave his all at the wheel of a single-seater far to be the most efficient on the set.
