Ricciardo hits out at Red Bull doubters

Daniel Ricciardo, Scotty James — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Superstars

Ricciardo hits out at Red Bull doubters

Ricciardo is set for his first full season back in Formula 1 for the first time since 2022

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Saturday 10 February 2024 01:57

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted his satisfaction at proving wrong those had written him off, as he comes back for his first full season since 2022.

Ricciardo will be racing for the newly named VCARB team, having raced under the team's previous guise as AlphaTauri after returning to the grid mid-way through the 2023 campaign as a replacement for the underperforming Nyck de Vries.

It marked a moment of redemption for Ricciardo who had previously been axed at the end of the 2022 campaign by McLaren with a year of his contract still to run having struggled at the Woking outfit.

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But after strong performances upon his return to the cockpit, Ricciardo is now being tipped to potentially replace Sergio Perez at parent team Red Bull in the future, and has also been linked with a move to Mercedes in 2025 to replace the outgoing Lewis Hamilton.

Daniel Ricciardo rejoined the team previously known as AlphaTauri midway through 2023

Daniel Ricciardo is about to embark on his first full F1 season since 2022

Ricciardo names 2023 F1 highlight

“Highest point of this season was Mexico," Ricciardo said.

“Mexico was the place I got my last ever pole position, so there’s always like, there’s something kind of cool about Mexico for me as well.

“Yeah, I felt like a man on a mission and it was a really cool weekend for me personally to kind of prove that I can still do it.

“But also the team, you know, Red Bull, you know, for sure there’s still some doubters and for the people that have believed in me and supported me, that was really nice to, yeah, just kind of confirm everything they believed in me.”

Red Bull Lewis Hamilton Mercedes McLaren Daniel Ricciardo Sergio Perez