F1 Journalists Reveals Why Daniel Ricciardo Flipped from His Year-long Sabbatical Commitment and Settle with Slowest Car

After being dropped by McLaren following two disastrous seasons, Daniel Ricciardo decided to settle for a year-long sabbatical before trying to get back into F1 as a full-time driver. However, a few months after the statement, the Australian has gone back on his words and is ready to return to the grid with arguably the weakest team. F1 journalist Scott Mitchell Malm revealed why Ricciardo decided to go back on his words.

At the start of the 2023 season, Ricciardo returned to Red Bull as a third driver. For the majority of the year, he was on the sidelines. However, he finally got a chance to drive the RB19 when he took to the track for Pirelli’s tire test in Silverstone. Quite unsurprisingly, the honey badger immediately impressed the Red Bull management, and paved the way for his return.

The Perth-born driver showed impressive speed and according to F1 reporter Lawrence Baretto, Ricciardo set times during the test, which would have been good enough for a front-row start at the British GP.

A report by ESPN claims that after around one hour of testing, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner immediately got on the phone with Helmut Marko to discuss Ricciardo’s future. By the time the tire test had gotten over, an F1 comeback for Ricciardo was already on the works.

The Daniel Ricciardo move to AlphaTauri explained

Scott Mitchell Malm spoke about Ricciardo’s return on The Race F1 Podcast. He revealed that he met Ricciardo at the Miami GP earlier this year, where the 34-year-old insisted that he was dying to rep Red Bull in F1 again.

Malm then explained that even though Ricciardo had the opportunity to move to teams like Haas and AlphaTauri at the start of the season, he refused to do so because he did not want to experience something similar to what happened with him at McLaren. However, as of now, Ricciardo realized that the only way to get into a competitive seat is to prove himself by being on the grid.

Malm explained that Ricciardo  realized that it is through AlphaTauri, that he can try and get back to the main Red Bull team. Malm said, “I am firmly of the opinion that Ricciardo does not take this seat, does not accept this move if he does not believe there is some chance that he can take Sergio Perez’s seat in the future.”

Perez himself in a precarious position after failing to get into Q3 in the last five races. Helmut Marko insists that his place is secure, but considering Red Bull’s history with driver assessments, the Austrian could start having different feelings if this form continues. Since Ricciardo is already at AlphaTauri and has won seven races for Red Bull in the past, his appointment as Perez’s replacement could very well be on the cards.

Ricciardo’s future at AlphaTauri

One of the major concerns regarding Ricciardo’s return is that the brilliant pace that impressed Horner,  came under a controlled environment during part of a test. The fuel load, track conditions, and weather were all different from what they could be during a race weekend. Therefore there is a slight concern that these factors might have influenced the strong pace of Ricciardo.

There can be outcomes for Ricciardo once he steps into the AlphaTauri. One, he can start dominating Yuki Tsunoda and that can open up an opportunity for him to move into the Red Bull seat. Or, Ricciardo might struggle in a car that is not really too competitive and relive his nightmarish McLaren spell.

In the end, it all comes down to how fast Ricciardo can adapt to the new car, because when it comes to skill, the honey badger has already proven himself at the highest level. If he fails to perform in the AlphaTauri, that might spell the end of his illustrious Formula 1 career.