Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo given STANDING OVATION upon AlphaTauri return in heart-warming video

The 'Honey Badger' is back in F1 and the AlphaTauri team were delighted to see him

Joe Ellis

Friday 14 July 2023 22:27

Daniel Ricciardo was given a standing ovation as he arrived at the AlphaTauri factory ahead of his grand F1 return.

The 34-year-old was announced on Tuesday as the replacement for Nyck de Vries at the Red Bull sister team following the Dutchman's poor performances in his rookie season.

Ricciardo will make his return to the grid at the Hungarian GP, hoping to help the Faenza team climb the constructors' standings and put himself in good stead for the future.

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The Australian was welcomed to the factory of the team by team principal Franz Tost before meeting the entire team, who applauded his arrival.

Now or never

welcoming @danielricciardo back 🏠 he got the new badge, followed the honey pot and… 🤗 pic.twitter.com/xoOYXwYetP
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) July 14, 2023

Ricciardo's move to the team he drove for before his Red Bull debut (Toro Rosso) is a huge gamble on his part but one he had to take.

The 'Honey Badger' will need to beat his new team-mate Yuki Tsunoda comprehensively to make himself a worthy driver for the second Red Bull seat, which has to be his aim now.

It's a worrying circle for Ricciardo who left Red Bull in 2018 having become an effective number two to Max Verstappen, a role he was not happy with.

Yet here he is, five years later, desperately trying to become that person in a cruel twist of irony but he won't even get there if he can't perform immediately.

It really is now or never for the Australian.