F1 team confirm Daniel Ricciardo return

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F1 team confirm Ricciardo return

The popular Australian is set for his belated comeback on the grid

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 18 October 2023 13:57

AlphaTauri have confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo will return to the Formula 1 grid this weekend at the US Grand Prix.

The Australian has been out of action since sustaining a broken hand during FP2 at the Dutch GP after a nasty collision.

He recently drove an F1 car for the first time since the incident in Nashville as part of a special Red Bull event.

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Now, he will return to racing with AlphaTauri in Austin, replacing New Zealander Liam Lawson who deputised so brilliantly for Ricciardo, as confirmed by BBC Sport.

Daniel Ricciardo sustained a nasty injury in Zandvoort which left him unable to race in the last five races

Since then, Liam Lawson has done a fantastic job for AlphaTauri, leaving the team with a difficult decision for their 2024 driver lineup

Daniel Ricciardo will be looking to impress with his AlpahTauri team, knowing a seat alongside Max Verstappen could be a possibility in 2025

Ricciardo looking at potential 2025 Red Bull return

After being dropped by the McLaren team at the end of 2022 following some pretty uninspiring performances, the Australian was handed a seat as Red Bull's reserve driver for 2023.

The inconsistent performances of rookie Nyck de Vries led to AlphaTauri calling Ricciardo up into the team after the British GP, but he was only able to race twice before sustaining his injury.

Lawson then became Yuki Tsunoda's third team-mate of the season, and has largely outperformed the Japanese driver in the five races in which he competed in.

He boasts almost half of the team's total points tally for the season, and would have been disappointed when AlphaTauri announced they would be seating Tsunoda and Ricciardo together for 2024.

Nonetheless, Ricciardo now has an opportunity to show what he can do for the rest of 2023 and 2024, hoping to prove to Red Bull that he has what it takes to make a stunning return to the team in 2025, partnering Max Verstappen once again.