Daniel Ricciardo makes F1 TRACK RETURN in RB19 as length of AlphaTauri deal confirmed

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo makes F1 TRACK RETURN in RB19 as length of AlphaTauri deal confirmed

The 'Honey Badger' is back with his old team ahead of his grand prix return with AlphaTauri in Hungary

Joe Ellis

Tuesday 11 July 2023 20:44 Updated: 20:49

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Daniel Ricciardo will make his long-awaited return to F1 this month after he was confirmed as Nyck de Vries' replacement at AlphaTauri in a loan deal for the rest of the 2023 season.

But the Australian has already been laying down reps on the tarmac after he took to the track for Red Bull for the first time since 2018.

The ever-popular Australian drove Max Verstappen's British Grand Prix-winning RB19 for a Pirelli tyre test at the Silverstone circuit.

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The test provided the perfect way for Ricciardo to get ready for his grand return to a full-time race seat at the Hungarian GP.

Nyck de Vries was sacked by AlphaTauri on Tuesday with the 34-year-old drafted in to take over the Dutchman's seat for the remainder of the current season.

Redemption time

Daniel Ricciardo will make his return to F1 with AlphaTauri at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Prior to the test, Ricciardo spoke of his excitement over returning to the F1 cockpit and had his helmet on well in advance in his latest LinkedIn post.

"#BritishGP was a blast as always... but my fun comes later today when I hit the track in the RB19 for Pirelli tyre testing. Vroom vroom," he wrote on the website.

The 34-year-old, who also represents Optus as the company's 'Chief of Optimism', is an eight-time grand prix winner with seven of those coming for Red Bull.

His two torrid years at McLaren saw him dropped a year early for Oscar Piastri, another Australian, but he did get one win for the Woking team, leading home a one-two finish with Lando Norris at the 2021 Italian GP.

A return to a full-time seat at AlphaTauri offers Ricciardo the perfect chance to resurrect his F1 career in a car that has struggled to perform this season.

AlphaTauri has two points after 10 races, both scored by Yuki Tsunoda, and Ricciardo will be aiming to significantly add to that tally in the remaining races.

Having no pressure to immediately win races or score podiums might be the stress-reliever Ricciardo needs to allow him to truly fall back in love with the sport.

When you consider the size of the Australian's vast fanbase too, there can be no doubt F1 is all the more richer for his presence on the grid.