Daniel Ricciardo will replace Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri starting from the upcoming 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, the Faenza squad confirmed on Tuesday.
The confirmation comes after Dutch Media claimed De Vries’ time at AlphaTauri was up after just ten races with the team having failed to score any points and was consistently outperformed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Ricciardo was on driving duty for Red Bull at the Pirelli test at Silverstone on the day of the announcement, he commented on the move: “I’m stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family!”
AlphaTauri said that Ricciardo will be joining the team on loan from Red Bull – where he is reserve driver – for the remainder of the 2023 Formula 1 season, starting from the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix.
AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost said: “I’m very pleased to welcome Daniel back into the team. There’s no doubt about his driving skill, and he already knows many of us, so his integration will be easy and straight-forward.
“The team will also profit a lot from his experience, as he is an eight-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner. I would like to thank Nyck for his valuable contribution during his time with Scuderia AlphaTauri, and I wish him all the best for the future,” the Austrian who is leaving his post at the end of 2023, added.
Red Bull Christian Horner commented on the move: “It is great to see Daniel hasn’t lost any form while away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his SIM sessions translate on track.
“His times during the tyre test were extremely competitive. It was a very impressive drive and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at Scuderia AlphaTauri,” he added.
Ricciardo raced for AlphaTauri back when the team was called Toro Rosso in the 2012 and 2013 Formula 1 seasons before being promoted to Red Bull racing in 2014 to replace compatriot Mark Webber who retired.
He raced with Red Bull until the end of the 2018 F1 season, after which he moved to Renault for two years before joining McLaren in 2021.
His time at McLaren was cut short after he failed to deliver the expected performance alongside Lando Norris and was replaced by Oscar Piastri at the end of 2022, after which he re-joined Red Bull as a reserve driver.
When the news drops that you’ll be back on the #F1 grid at the next race… pic.twitter.com/AaZipnFb6j
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 11, 2023