Daniel Ricciardo has made a triumphant comeback at AlphaTauri after he replaced Nyck de Vries, who got sacked due to poor performances. Now, Nico Rosberg, the 2016 F1 champion has come up ahead to warn his rivals to be cautious while going against him.
Following his exit from McLaren in 2022, Ricciardo returned to Red Bull as a third driver behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. However, there was nothing concrete about his future in the sport panned out. He was not guaranteed a seat in 2023 or 2024.
However, the Australian driver joined the AlphaTauri line-up after de Vries failed to live up to the expectations. After just 10 races into the 2023 season, Helmut Marko and Christian Horner decided that Ricciardo had to be brought in to replace a struggling de Vries.
Now, Rosberg, who raced against the honey badger for three seasons is happy to see him back on the grid. At the same, he came up to warn Ricciardo’ rivals, especially Yuki Tsunoda.
Nico Rosberg warned Ricciardo’s rivals
Rosberg raced against Ricciardo for three years from 2014 to 2016 before the former retired from F1. During these years, the German star went wheel to wheel against the Ricciardo. And from there on, he got into the habit of seeing the 34-year-old in his rearview mirror.
Admittedly, this was a sight the 2016 F1 champion did not like for sure as he cautioned the Perth-born driver’s rivals against it. Speaking about this according to a report published by Racingnews365, he said, “He has a fantastic personality and is one of the best wheel-to-wheel racers.”
“Together with Max Verstappen, he would be the last one I see in my rearview mirrors. So it’s great to see him back,” the former Mercedes star added. However, as things stand, Ricciardo’s only rival this season is believed to be his teammate Tsunoda.
How does Daniel Ricciardo need to get better off Tsunoda to attain the Red Bull seat?
With Sergio Perez’s dip in form, there were multiple reports of him being replaced. At the same time, Tsunoda and Ricciardo’s name came up as a possible replacement for the Mexican star.
However, with Perez finding his form recently, the second Red Bull seat seems to be out of reach for both of them for now. But that does not mean either of them will not have a go at the most coveted seat on the grid at the moment.
For that, the 34-year-old needs to overcome the first hurdle in the form of Tsunoda, whom he credited for his improvement. As the 23-year-old is a hot favorite to attain the Red Bull hot seat after Perez’s contract expires, Daniel Ricciardo needs to do his best to show he’s still got what it takes to compete at the highest level.
