'Ricciardo's AlphaTauri F1 drive carries huge risk. But he couldn't say no'

F1

Daniel Ricciardo's chance to show he's still got it has come sooner than he expected. Now, with Nyck de Vries out of the picture, he's the one who has to "prove it" to secure an F1 future, writes Chris Medland

Daniel-ricciardo-with-Max-Verstappen-and-Sergio-Perez-at-2023-Australian-Grand-Prix

Three's a crowd: Ricciardo could make the case for promotion at AlphaTauri... or see his chances evaporate

Mark Thompson/Getty Images via Red Bull

When he confirmed he wouldn’t be on the F1 grid in 2023 at the end of last season, you could tell Daniel Ricciardo needed the break.

His whole demeanour suggested he didn’t have the confidence that driving another car would be any better than his time at McLaren had been, but he also didn’t appear to have the motivation or hunger to keep fighting at that point in time.

By the Red Bull pre-season launch event in New York City, Ricciardo was already a little more positive, but at that stage still enjoying his time off. There had been little in the way of training, and a lot of enjoying a more normal lifestyle he was in control of. I even wondered then whether he would actually fade into a happy retirement from there – enjoying life outside F1 – rather than regain the energy to launch a comeback bid.

The latter was soon proven to be the case. Ricciardo spoke about only wanting to return to a front-running team, but his mojo was returning after simulator sessions for Red Bull that showed there was still impressive underlying performance that he could access.

And let’s be serious, given the struggles he had faced at McLaren, and the fact he had dropped Red Bull in it by opting to leave for Renault back in 2018, the Australian wasn’t going to be offered the courtesy of going straight back into the dominant team’s line-up, or even pick his own time to return elsewhere.

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All smiles at Ricciardo’s last Red Bull race in Abu Dhabi, 2018, but he left the team with a driver conundrum that persists today

Lars Baron/Getty Images via Red Bull

AlphaTauri had been a growing option as the year went on, with Christian Horner keen to see what Ricciardo could do in a race seat after being impressed with his development behind the scenes (he had been surprised by some of the habits Ricciardo had picked up since leaving five years ago). But Ricciardo insisted he only wanted to race again for a front-running team.

By Canada, that had become even more focused on racing for Red Bull and finishing his career there, so proving himself at AlphaTauri was also something the 34-year-old was becoming accepting of. In 2024.

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The reasons for that were multiple, but given how uncompetitive the AlphaTauri has been so far this season, it looked from the outside that it would be a hiding to nothing if he were to go up against Yuki Tsunoda mid-season. Not only would Ricciardo have to get used to a new car, but he would be paired with a driver who was performing well and could give him a run for his money.

Next season came with no certainty that Tsunoda would still be in position – as Red Bull doesn’t need to keep Honda happy to the extent it used to now the Japanese manufacturer is set for a future with Aston Martin – and AlphaTauri was planning on forming a much closer technical alliance with Red Bull and running far more components from Milton Keynes.

A more competitive car and potentially a rookie team-mate? Far more attractive.

But while Horner wanted to see Ricciardo in that seat, Helmut Marko was not convinced. The Red Bull advisor was struggling to shake the feeling that Ricciardo was a lost cause and the team should be looking at other options. Where Horner had leverage was that he had been less keen to sign Nyck de Vries a year earlier, but Marko won out on that occasion and had started conceding it had looked like he was wrong.

Let’s be fair to De Vries, though. The car has been so uncompetitive he hasn’t had the ability to pick up eye-catching results in the way he did in his one-off Williams appearance at Monza last season. That was the perfect storm of right car at the right track, but neither have existed in 2023.

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After the high of Monza last year, De Vries has struggled with AlphaTauri

Peter Fox/Getty Images via Red Bull

What Red Bull is looking for is a driver who could replace Perez if he underperforms, or at the very least pushes the Mexican to up his game at a time such as this, when he has failed to reach Q3 for five races in a row. De Vries was already deemed not to be that driver.

Ricciardo could be, if he is the Ricciardo that Red Bull knew before. And right now Red Bull could do with a reaction from Perez, because he’s not making himself a sure bet if the team is in a tight constructors’ fight in future years.

So Marko has done what he does best and made the ruthless call to try and get an answer right now. Effectively, if Horner has said “told you so” regarding de Vries, then Marko is now responding with “prove it” when it comes to Ricciardo.

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It’s an opportunity that the eight-time race winner can’t turn down, even if it comes with huge risk. Struggle as a mid-season replacement in a poor car, and his hopes of driving for Red Bull again will surely be over. Put in strong performances, and suddenly the prospect of replacing Perez at some point in the future becomes a very real one.

The ball will stay in Perez’s court, of course. If he gets back to the level he showed earlier this season and finishes second to Verstappen in the constructors’ championship then Red Bull will have little need to change, but be left with the luxury of boasting a very capable reserve on tap.

In the latter scenario, Ricciardo will then likely only get a look in for 2025, and that means he’s going to need to make a compelling case not only this season but next year too. Far from an easy task, even if Red Bull has tended to be an environment he thrived in.

I interviewed Ricciardo on air for SiriusXM pre-race at Silverstone about this week’s tyre test (the one that Red Bull would have you believe sealed the deal, even if De Vries was told he was out on Tuesday morning), and even if he didn’t give away the impending move, he clearly wanted back in.

“I’m hanging out just to drive in general,” he said. “I’ve had enough of a break now where I’ve got ants in my pants, in a positive way.”

It was a marked difference to the Ricciardo of 12 months ago. That motivation and hunger was clearly back, and the break has obviously done him the world of good from a mental point of view. Now he has to show it has done the same behind the wheel.

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