Daniel Ricciardo is ready to drive for AlphaTauri for the rest of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship, the crew introduced on Tuesday.
He’ll exchange present driver Nyck De Vries, a promising rookie that has didn’t make progress this season.
Ricciardo is a a number of race winner and beforehand drove for the Pink Bull Racing feeder crew when it was nonetheless Toro Rosso. He additionally drove for Pink Bull, the place he is at the moment a reserve drive. Ricciardo is taken into account to be « on mortgage » to AlphaTauri from Pink Bull.
The announcement got here simply hours after Ricciardo drove the present Red Bull RB19 in a Pirelli tire check at Silverstone. He’ll be part of AlphaTauri for the subsequent race on the calendar, the Hungarian Grand Prix, partnering Yuki Tsunoda.
Nyck de Vries – Picture credit score: Getty Photographs
Ricciardo drove for Toro Rosso in 2012 and 2013 earlier than being promoted to Pink Bull for the 2014 season. He scored seven wins with Pink Bull earlier than moving to Renault (now Alpine) for the 2019 season. He spent two seasons on the French crew earlier than transferring to McLaren for the 2021 season.
Whereas he did rating an eighth victory with McLaren, Ricciardo struggled with the crew. His contract was terminated one yr early, leaving him with out a race seat on the finish of the 2022 season. With no different choices, Ricciardo returned to Pink Bull as a reserve driver, whereas McLaren signed Oscar Piastri as his substitute.
Dutch driver De Vries is a Formulation E champion and managed a ninth place end in his first F1 look, a one-off drive for Williams in 2022. He is being changed after simply 10 races, having not scored any factors. AlphaTauri is at the moment on the backside of the Constructors’ Championship, with simply two factors scored by Tsunoda.
