Daniel Ricciardo and Heidi Berger are easily one of the most recognizable couples in the F1 paddock. Despite their efforts to keep their relationship a secret, fans have often spotted the two together over the course of their four-year relationship.
Now, Heidi Berger’s father, and F1 icon Gerhard Berger, took the stand to plead Daniel’s case at Red Bull. Admittedly, Berger is a hourshold name in Milton Keynes; the F1 star was a figurehead driver for the team. Thus, his words have value.
Berger believes Ricciardo is a “safe bet” for Red Bull to make as Sergio Perez continues to falter this season. Off-form and struggling, the driver has been under public scrutiny as his seat is under threat.
Furthermore, talks emerged on how Nyck de Vries’ place in the AlphaTauri team isn’t looking like a secured one after Helmut Marko’s recent revelation. There are chances for Ricciardo to return to either of the seats and Berger is believed to be instrumenting the move.
Berger bets for Daniel Ricciardo
The Australian former driver is confident about placing the bet on his younger compatriot, even if it has to be beside Max Verstappen.
Speaking about how the Dutchman has always defeated everyone against him and Ricciardo fared better even under that situation, the 63-year-old brought the example of the old days.
On this, Berger told Servus TV, “We’ve already seen that wanting to fight for the title with Max is useless. But it also has to be said that nobody has looked very good next to Max.”
Following this, he went on to state, according to AutoRacing1, “Daniel has a lot of experience.” However, after mentioning how Red Bull always prefers to go the young way [Verstappen’s promotion when he was 17] the 10-time GP winner added, “But on the other hand, you have to say that Daniel would be a safe bet.”
Is Ricciardo returning to Red Bull?
For the time being, there’s little to no chance that Daniel Ricciardo will have a seat in Red Bull, or in AlphaTauri. However, the Honey Badger will surely get to taste the Red Bull F1 car after five long years.
The 33-year-old will have Pirelli tire testing in Silverstone after the British Grand Prix. Following this, he will also get to drive the mighty RB-19 in Monza as well.
🚨 | Daniel Ricciardo is a potential contender to join AlphaTauri next season.
Red Bull are open to the move and will evaluate Ricciardo’s level this summer.
Juniors like Ayumu Iwasa and Liam Lawson will also be in contention for the seat, should there be a change in drivers… pic.twitter.com/Fi71PLhMi1
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) June 25, 2023
Citing this, Red Bull mastermind Helmut Marko said to ORF, “We will have Ricciardo in the car for three days after Silverstone at the tire test and then you can evaluate where Ricciardo really stands.”
This brings the question if Marko is hinting towards a resurgence of the Honey Badger in the Red Bull seat. If not, in the AlphaTauri seat maybe? Only time will tell.
