IT’S RACE WEEK! And Daniel Ricciardo is back!

DR3 at his seat fitting seen on instagram @Alphataurif1

​This weekend sees the summer break’s penultimate race as the paddock head to Hungary. 
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Daniel Ricciardo fans will be anticipating his return as he replaces Alpha Tauri’s Nyck De Vries only 10 races into his Formula One career. Ricciardo previously drove for the team when in 2012, back when it was called Toro Rosso. 

Alpha Tauri released this statement on their Instagram from Team principal Franz Tost “The team will profit a lot from his experience as he is an eight-time formula one grand prix winner. I would like to thank Nyck for his valuable contribution during his time with us”.

Although a huge success in Formula e, after winning the 2021 drivers championship, De Vries’ team Alpha Tauri sit at the bottom of the Constructors championship with only 2 points, provided by Yuki Tsunoda.

Ricciardo’s return has not only ended De Vries’ time in Redbulls sister team but has become a serious threat to Tsunoda and Sergio Perez.

Daniel Ricciardo’s performance in Hungary will be used to assess Yuki Tsunoda's performance, testing whether the poor race results come from the drivers or the car itself as Yuki Tsunoda has also provided us with a disappointing season so far. P10 being his best finish of the season. Will the Honey badger top that?

However, the Alpha Tauri boys haven’t been the only drivers failing to meet Helmut Marko expectations as it is well-known knowledge that Redbull's number 2 driver Sergio Perez has not been meeting the team's targets. Checo sits nearly 100 points behind teammate Max Verstappen yet drives the same machinery.  Perez has a lot to improve on as he has gone 5 races in a row where he has failed to reach Q3 and the podium of the feature races, leaving Verstappen to defend out front alone on Sundays. 

The Redbull family is known for being cut-throat, after replacing many drivers mid-season. 

1. Scott Speed (Toro Rosso) replaced by Sebastian Vettel, 2007
2. Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso) replaced by Jaime Alguersuari, 2009
3. Danil Kyvat (Redbull) replaced by Max Verstappen, 2016
4. Danil Kyvat (Toro Rosso) replaced by Pierre Gasly, 2017
5. Pierre Gasly (Redbull) replaced by Alex Albon, 2019

Daniel Ricciardo has now been added to the Formula One driver’s championship standings and is available to pick in F1 fantasy.

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Bronwen Jones
Writer @F1 Journal

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