Nyck de Vries’ world came crashing down after losing his AlphaTauri seat to Daniel Ricciardo after the British Grand Prix. The 28-year-old was in his rookie season with the team and had to take a step back after only ten races. However, his replacement, Ricciardo, told during Thursday’s press conference a part of him wanted the team to wait till the summer break before making the announcement.
Ten races into the 2023 season, AlphaTauri made the shocking announcement of dropping de Vries in favor of Ricciardo. With only two races before the season went into summer break, the move came at a weird moment for an inactive Ricciardo. The 34-year-old Australian driver had to jump right into racing after not actively racing for a while, and before he could get back in touch with racing, the season went into break.
However, it did not stop the Australian from jumping straight into action when duty called him to.
Daniel Ricciardo reveals he wanted AlphaTauri to announce him during the summer break
Talking to F1 TV, the Australian driver discussed his return to driving in the F1 after being sidelined from racing for a while. The 34-year-old also mentioned a part of him wanted his team to wait for the summer break before announcing the big news.
“When the team told me it was gonna happen, very soon, part of me was like ‘oh, maybe we should wait for the break.’ But, yeah, personally very happy that they, kind of, threw me in a little bit, the deep end. I think it prepared me a lot better for the second half of the season,” said Ricciardo.
As a result of the move, the former Red Bull driver has a better understanding of the car and can better prepare himself for the upcoming season restart.
Ricciardo feels more prepared for the second half of the season
With two races already under his belt this season, Ricciardo believes the team’s decision to have him driving as soon as possible to be a great decision. The move gave him time to familiarize himself with the car and hit the ground running before heading into the back end of the season.
Daniel Ricciardo says he felt like the AlphaTauri suited his driving style from the beginning as compared to McLaren
“I felt a little bit more of it. On lap one I already felt like I was getting kind of the feedback that maybe I would expect or like, so that was important.”… pic.twitter.com/2ypht6Bz4G
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) August 15, 2023
Ricciardo’s performance in the two races back his words in the interview. Even though he made a mistake at the Belgian GP qualifying, he shone during the sprint session. The Australian made the top 10 in the sprint session, while his teammate finished 18th.
Daniel Ricciardo seems satisfied with his performances so far, finishing 13th at the Hungarian GP and securing P16 in Spa-Francorchamps. He believes it is the start of something new and hopes he can continue to improve his performances once the season restarts.
