Daniel Ricciardo REACTS to stunning F1 return as Christian Horner praises Aussie's 'very competitive' times

Daniel Ricciardo

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Ricciardo REACTS to stunning F1 return as Horner praises Aussie's 'very competitive' times

Australian driver announced as replacement for Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri

Lauren Sneath

Wednesday 12 July 2023 13:42

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Daniel Ricciardo has responded to the announcement that he will be returning to the F1 grid in an AlphaTauri seat after Nyck de Vries was unceremoniously removed from the team mid-season.

The Aussie, beloved by fans and currently a Red Bull reserve driver, was biding his time after leading McLaren until a seat opened up for him to drive in.

De Vries, an F1 rookie driver who has previously won Formula E, has struggled this season to get to grips with the car and is yet to score a point for the team this season.

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After it was suddenly announced this week that Ricciardo would be taking over from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards, the former McLaren driver posted photos to his Instagram story celebrating the news.

He first posted a photograph of him wearing an F1 helmet, with the caption: “Haven’t been able to take it off.”

Then, he added another photo of himself, with the caption: “Happy to be back.”

Daniel Ricciardo posted Instagram stories after the announcement

Horner praises Ricciardo’s talents

Meanwhile, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made sure to compliment Ricciardo on his own social media post.

Horner said Ricciardo’s times for Red Bull during a recent tyre test were ‘extremely competitive’, highlighting a potential catalyst for the decision to return him to the grid.

Horner wrote: “It is great to see [Ricciardo] hasn’t lost any form while away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his SIM sessions translate on track.

“His times during the tyre test were extremely competitive. It was a very impressive drive and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at [AlphaTauri].”