Daniel Ricciardo made a return to F1 in 2023 after an eight-month enforced break. His stint with AlphaTauri has been impressive, but F1 expert and commentator Martin Brundle feels that he still hasn’t done enough to earn a seat back at Red Bull. Brundle went as far as saying that Ricciardo is “not much better than Tsunoda”.
During a Q&A session with Sky Sports, Brundle was speaking about Ricciardo’s stint at Red Bull’s sister team so far. “Daniel was not as much better than Tsunoda as I expected in advance,” Brundle said as quoted by GP Fans.
“I know he was thrown into the deep end and was unhappy with that incident in Zandvoort. But McLaren replaced him with Piastri and it worked out pretty well right?”, added the Sky Sports commentator.
Ricciardo’s stint with McLaren was disastrous. He had a three-year contract with the Woking-based outfit, but it was cut short after just two seasons. A devastated Ricciardo decided to take a break from F1 until his old team Red Bull came knocking.
Now, Ricciardo seeks to return to Red Bull and finish his career there. But to do that, he has to perform well at AlphaTauri, and get the better of Yuki Tsunoda.
Can Daniel Ricciardo get the better of Yuki Tsunoda?
Tsunoda’s start to life at AlphaTauri two years ago was not breezy. The Japanese driver was regularly outperformed by his then-teammate, Pierre Gasly. In 2023, however, when they signed Nyck de Vries, Tsunoda emerged as the team’s leader.
De Vries’ stint was not optimal, so Red Bull sacked him and brought Ricciardo instead. Surprisingly, Tsunoda still held his nerve and put in some great performances despite having a much more experienced and eight-time race winner in Ricciardo as his teammate.
However, it is fair to point out that Ricciardo’s return was interrupted by an unforeseen injury he sustained in Zandvoort. With a full season ahead of him, the Honey Badger will be looking to prepare and perform at his best.
Ricciardo wants to return to Red Bull, where he will most likely be the replacement for Sergio Perez, who himself is under a lot of pressure going into the new campaign.
