Daniel Ricciardo has made a shock return to Method One as Nyck de Vries’ alternative at Purple Bull’s second workforce AlphaTauri for the remainder of the season.
Ricciardo, who took a step away from racing this 12 months as Purple Bull’s third driver, will return to the grid from the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 23.
The eight-time race winner advised ESPN final month the “fairytale” end to his F1 career could be a return to the Purple Bull workforce he left in 2018.
A stint with the secondary outfit will put him in rivalry to do this in future and improve the strain on the out-of-form Sergio Perez at Purple Bull.
Sources have advised ESPN Ricciardo is prepared to drive at AlphaTauri for as long as it takes to show he’s over his tough spell at McLaren in 2021 and 2022.
The information was confirmed on Tuesday, whereas Ricciardo was conducting a tyre take a look at for Purple Bull at Silverstone.
Purple Bull mentioned a powerful displaying in that session was what made the transfer occur.
Purple Bull boss Christian Horner mentioned: “It’s nice to see Daniel hasn’t misplaced any type whereas away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his sim periods translate on observe. His occasions throughout the tyre take a look at had been extraordinarily aggressive. It was a really spectacular drive and we’re excited to see what the remainder of the season brings for Daniel on mortgage at Scuderia AlphaTauri.”
De Vries’ exit from AlphaTauri appeared like a matter of when, not if, for some time, given his large struggles and the repeated public criticisms made by Purple Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko.
Marko final month mentioned Horner had, in hindsight, been proper to query whether or not De Vries was the correct particular person to carry into the corporate’s F1 programme.
De Vries, a former Method 2 and Method E champion, earned a contract for the season on the again of a extremely spectacular F1 debut for Williams on the Italian Grand Prix final 12 months, the place he stood in for the unwell Alex Albon and scored factors.
He has been unable to duplicate that sort of efficiency in 2023.
The transfer brings Ricciardo again to the workforce he raced at in 2012 and 2013 when it was referred to as Toro Rosso.
His spectacular performances in that point earned him a promotion to Purple Bull for 2014, when he had a breakout season together with three F1 victories.
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Revealed : 2023-07-11 21:43:19
