Written by Benjamin Crundwell, Edited by Debargha Banerjee
Image: Sky Sports
Despite Daniel Ricciado’s pledge that he wants to join a “top f1 team” in 2024, the rumours are emerging that he may settle with Red Bull’s sister team, Alpha Tauri. The team took Nyck De Vries under their wing for his debut season in F1, but he is yet to impress. De Vries has already had multiple shunts, the most recent one being in Miami where he outbraked himself and went into the back of the helpless Mclaren of Lando Norris at turn 1. Although questions about his career have been raised, up until today there was no foundation for the rumours to lay on.
However today the driver market has taken its first hit of drama. Daniel Ricciardo has gone to the Alpha Tauri base in Faenza for a seat fitting. According to es.motorsport.com. Helmut Marko said that if De Vries’ performances don’t improve inside the next 3 races, Ricciardo will take the wheel for the rest of the season. To replace a driver after just eight races would be a harsh decision, perhaps the seat fitting has only been arranged to motivate the Dutchman to get a grip. But the Red Bull driver system is known to be a ruthless one, if a driver isn’t performing, they must leave.
Image: Sky Sports
A move to Alpha Tauri would be a step in the right direction for Daniel Ricciardo, giving him a clearer path to his return to the front. As for Red Bull, a drive at Alpha Tauri would prepare Ricciardo nicely for a move into the big team when the time is right. Is Red Bull just preparing Ricciardo for a free practice session, or is this the start of F1’s most popular comeback?