Red Bull chief “excited to see” how Daniel Ricciardo fares at AlphaTauri for the rest of the F1 season

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has expressed his delight with Daniel Ricciardo joining the Scuderia AlphaTauri team.

Ricciardo has been with Red Bull for a few months as their reserve and simulator driver after leaving McLaren in 2022. Ever since he joined his old team and stood on the sidelines, there have been rumors that he could either replace Sergio Perez or rookie Nyck de Vries.

De Vries endured several poor performances for AlphaTauri this season. As a result, the seniors of the Austrian-British team decided to sack the Dutchman mid-season and give Daniel Ricciardo the seat.

Welcoming the "Honey Badger" back to F1 and Red Bull's second team, Christian Horner said (via redbullracing.com):

"It was great to see Daniel hasn’t lost any form while away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his SIM sessions translate on track. His times during the tyre test were extremely competitive.

"It was a very impressive drive and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at Scuderia AlphaTauri."

Since the change is effective immediately, the Australian F1 driver now has about a week to prepare for the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP, which will take place on July 23.

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Daniel Ricciardo is ready to end his break and get back on the F1 grid

Prior to the official announcement about him replacing Nyck de Vries in AlphaTauri, Daniel Ricciardo stated that he wanted to end his break and get back into F1.

He initially expressed his excitement about driving the RB19 at Silverstone for the Pirelli tire test. Then he explained how he misses the buildup to a race weekend and the thrill of racing in Formula 1.

Speaking with SpeedCity prior to the tire test at Silverstone, Ricciardo said:

“I’m hanging out just to drive in general. I’ve had enough of a break now where I’ve got ants in my pants, in a positive way. But of course, it’s a phenomenal car and I’m excited to feel it round here, and on such a high-speed circuit as well.”

He added:

“Yeah, of course (I miss it), this is my favorite part of the race weekend – the build-up part to the race. When you’re about 10-15 minutes out, it’s really awesome and the grid gets packed, it’s a bit of a zoo and it’s chaos but it’s kind of a fun chaos.

“So I do miss it, but it’s all good. I’m letting it all happen as it comes and I have confidence I’ll be back on the grid at some point. Obviously I’m not 100% sure of it, but I’m confident it will happen again one day.”

Soon after Daniel Ricciardo drove the RB19 in the Pirelli tire test in Silverstone after the British GP, Red Bull and AlphaTauri officially announced the change.