Daniel Ricciardo has recently revealed that he is very much open to making a comeback in Formula 1 next year. The Australian driver, who’s currently the reserve driver for Red Bull, stated that he wants to have a fairytale ending to his career with a seat in Red Bull’s car. However, the most realistic offer for Ricciardo seems to be coming from AlphaTauri, where rookie Nyck de Vries is struggling.
After the series of poor shows by the current AlphaTauri driver recently, talks emerged about how Ricciardo could replace the Dutchman at the Red Bull sister team. But recent comments by Helmut Marko say otherwise.
As the sacking axe looms over de Vries’ head, it is believed that the Dutch driver got his things together and started delivering better performances. This, in return, resulted in the opposite for the Aussie.
Helmut Marko stood for de Vries
de Vries’ team, AlphaTauri, is in no mood to spare the 28-year-old, even if he is in his rookie year. He will have to deliver, like his younger teammate Yuki Tsunoda, or he is expected to be replaced. When things are this tight, de Vries’ latest performance in Canada seemed to have saved the day for him, at least for now.
lap 52/70: @nyckdevries makes his second stop for another set of hards 👌 pic.twitter.com/bTq7XeHqWa
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) June 18, 2023
Speaking on the Dutch driver’s Montreal performance and the wheel-to-wheel battle with Kevin Magnussen, the Red Bull maestro said as per Dutch Telegraph journalist Erik van Haren, “A pure racing incident.”
“If you don’t take any risks, nothing will happen at all,” conveyed the 80-year-old mastermind. [Translated from Dutch by using Google.] With his statements, it is clear that Marko is content that the rookie has taken steps in the right direction and, if this continues, he might secure his stay until 2024.
Does this mean it’s the end of the road for Daniel Ricciardo?
Admittedly, there are multiple roads for Daniel Ricciardo to follow. With Nyck de Vries and Sergio Perez both in a danger zone after recent performances, the Australian will be keeping close eyes on them.
Furthermore, there’s a different way out, as Tsunoda is believed to be the next successor in the Red Bull seat alongside Verstappen. In that case, Ricciardo will have Tsunoda’s seat at AlphaTauri without de Vries’ expense.
However, as of now, there’s no confirmation from the Red Bull hierarchy if the 33-year-old will be given either of the seats. So, it’ll be interesting to see if the eight-time Grand Prix winner gets his fairytale ending or not.
