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

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.

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.

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.