In news that has my personal engine extremely revved, Australia’s boyfriend Daniel Ricciardo is finally making his big return to the Formula 1 grid.
So what’s the sitch? Well, rookie driver Nyck de Vries (from Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri) struggled to find form in 2023. He didn’t score any championship points and was involved in a couple of on-track accidents. So after 10 races, he’s getting the boot.
Daniel Ricciardo has been a reserve driver for Red Bull this year, a role which didn’t involve racing — but that’s set to change with the bombshell news that he’ll replace de Vries on the AlphaTauri team.
Because F1 is a fucken ruthless sport, Ricciardo will take over from de Vries in the very next F1 race in Hungary on July 23. Daniel Ricciardo? In a Formula 1 race seat? In 2023? Thank you Lord for blessing us.
Daniel is back! 👊@danielricciardo, on loan from @redbullracing, will be racing for us for the remainder of the #F1 season, starting from the Hungarian GP.
Read more 👇
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) July 11, 2023
A statement from AlphaTauri said Ricciardo is “on loan” for the season. Uh, can we have him next?
“I’m very pleased to welcome Daniel back into the team,” AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost said in the statement.
“There’s no doubt about his driving skills, and he already knows many of us, so his integration will be easy and straight forward. The team will also profit a lot from his experience, as he is an eight-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner. I would like to thank Nyck for his valuable contribution during his time with Scuderia AlphaTauri and I wish him all the best for the future.”
Ouch. Such a classic break-up line.
Meanwhile, Danny Ric said of the move: “I’m stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family!” Of course he did.
While it seemed to come outta nowhere, the replacement has been rumoured for months now.
Back in May, F1 girlies were creaming their jeans after Daniel Ricciardo apparently had a seat fitting at AlphaTauri.
At the time, some people thought it could have been routine — just to make sure that Ricciardo could comfortably replace de Vries or AlphaTauri’s other starting driver Yuki Tsunoda if the need arose — but fans and sports journos had a fucking field day with it.
Would I selfishly love to see Daniel Ricciardo overtaking McLarens in an AlphaTauri? Yes
Could I stomach watching Nyck De Vries getting binned after 5 races? No
— Dyl (@HoodieUce) May 11, 2023
Daniel Ricciardo to AlphaTauri sometime in the 2023 season to replace De Vries, calling my shot now
— Tim Thompson (@TimThompson85) May 6, 2023
Daniel Ricciardo's seat fit at AlphaTauri is true, @Motorsport confirms. He is also reserve driver for the team, so the seat fit was necessary.
Rumours said he might replace De Vries, whose season is not going well so far. Red Bull wants signs of progress by the Spanish GP. #F1
— Ahmet Cir (@AhmetCirF1) May 11, 2023
It’s been a weird F1 season not having Daniel Ricciardo racing — I was starting to dread how boring Netflix’s Drive To Survive would be without him as a main plotline next year — so clearly fans’ manifesting has paid OFF.
We did it, Joe.
Image Credit: Getty / Ryan Pierse.
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