Daniel Ricciardo has set his sights on returning to Red Bull at the first available opportunity after securing his Formula 1 comeback this weekend, says team principal Christian Horner.
The team has ousted Nyck de Vries from its junior squad AlphaTauri just 10 races into his first season with them to make way for Ricciardo.
Horner said the team laid the groundwork for Ricciardo to take de Vries’ place ahead of last week’s Pirelli tyre test at Silverstone. After just seven laps in the Red Bull RB19 the team was convinced Ricciardo should get the drive and by his 11th lap its motorsport consultant Helmut Marko had contacted de Vries to inform him his services were no longer required.
Ricciardo’s return to the team he previously drove for in 2012 and 2013, when it was known as Toro Rosso, came about after McLaren chose to cut his contract with them short by a year last season. Ricciardo met Horner at the Mexican Grand Prix and the pair discussed a potential reunion.
Following the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Ricciardo drove the Red Bull simulator for the first time since he left them in 2018.“I didn’t really recognise the Daniel, over the last couple of years, that we’d sort of grown so used to, that had grown up with us,” Horner told the official F1 website. “So that’s where it started.
“He came in and drove the simulator the day after Abu Dhabi, or a couple of days after Abu Dhabi. It was a complete disaster and he’d picked up every bad habit imaginable when he was working with this previous engineer.
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“Gradually we unpicked it. With each session he just got better and better. You could see his confidence growing to the point that he was absolutely on the pace with the race drivers.”
Ricciardo’s performance in the test reminded Horner of his test for the team 10 years ago which convinced them to place him alongside Sebastian Vettel in their line-up for the 2014 season.
“What impressed me the most when I went up to have a look at the test was, bearing in mind he hasn’t driven this car, hadn’t been in a car for seven months, within his third or fourth lap he was down to a time that was within a second of what our drivers were achieving.
“Then in his first proper run, as it were, on tyres that were comparable, you could see his confidence was growing and growing and that first lap on probably what was his seventh lap of the day would have put him on the front row of the grid. So it was hugely impressive.”
“I was just pleased to see that he was still able to operate at that level,” Horner added. “You could see, I mentioned to him ‘that would have put you on the front row of the grid’ and you could see almost the relief in his eyes and almost like the pressure release off his shoulders that he could still do it, that he wasn’t going mad and the old Daniel was still there. And then his long runs were very impressive and the work that he did for Pirelli was absolutely on the money.”
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Ricciardo had already discussed the possibility of replacing de Vries beforehand. “Obviously before the test there was some element of discussion with Daniel to say, look, if this goes well, would you be up for driving an AlphaTauri because things aren’t quite going as we’d hoped with Nyck. Would you be up for that challenge? And he [said] ‘yeah, absolutely’. He was prepared, if you like, to take a step backwards to try and take two steps forward.”
“Look, Nyck is a very capable driver and a Formula E champion and Formula 2 champion,” said Horner. “He’s obviously got a lot of experience.
“He’s not a young driver as such, from an age perspective. And I just didn’t see how it fitted within the junior program. It was always a stopgap.”
De Vries took no points from his first 10 races at AlphaTauri, during which time his team mate Yuki Tsunoda took two. “It was becoming obviously a difficult situation for Nyck de Vries, but there was a high expectation on him because whilst inexperienced in Formula 1, he’s obviously a very experienced driver,” said Horner.
“I think there was a general feeling that Nyck wasn’t quite hitting the mark. And then the question was what are the options if we were to switch things around? And from a Red Bull Racing perspective, the most interesting option for me was to see how Daniel performed. So that was the decision that was made. It all happened pretty quick. And here he is for the Hungarian Grand Prix.”
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Although the Red Bull and AlphaTauri teams are owned by the same company, Ricciardo is regarded as being ‘on loan’ to the junior squad. With Perez contracted to Red Bull until the end of next season, Horner says Ricciardo’s target is to put himself in position to return as Max Verstappen’s team mate in 2025.
“At the moment there’s only something in place until the end of the season. So there’s no thoughts or expectations beyond that. We’ve loaned him to AlphaTauri to the end of the year. Obviously our drivers are going to be Max and and Checo again next year. But it’s always good to have talent in reserve.
“I think Daniel is viewing AlphaTauri, he firmly wants to be pitching for that 2025 Red Bull seat. That’s his golden objective. And by going to AlphaTauri, I think he sees that as his best route of stating his case for 2025.”
2023 Hungarian Grand Prix
- Was F1’s Alternative Tyre Allocation test successful? Drivers and teams have their say
- How far can McLaren climb with car rivals now say is the second-fastest in F1?
- Why Ricciardo says McLaren’s car “speaks Lando’s language” – but Norris disagrees
- Mercedes reveal cooling error behind loss of pace in Hungarian GP
- Perez answered critics in Hungary but needs to qualify better – Horner
WelshChris
18th July 2023, 7:37
Does anyone read this as ‘Perez is out at the end of 2024?’
Jere (@jerejj)
18th July 2023, 7:42
Yes or maybe to an extent, or even at the end of this year.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
18th July 2023, 8:23
Perez currently has a contract until the end of 2024. So that seat is up for grabs from 2025, so it makes sense for Horner to phrase it this way.
Realistically Perez is out by the end of this year and Daniel is in next year, if he continues to perform well in the AT.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th July 2023, 8:54
I’m pretty sure Perez is contracted as a Red Bull driver that can be moved to Alpha Tauri if certain performance criteria aren’t met… aka the Gasly way.
Jere (@jerejj)
18th July 2023, 10:08
@todfod No, he’s solely contracted to Red Bull Racing like his teammate, as well as, the likes of Seb, Danny Ric, Webber, etc., in the past. Some things are simply obvious enough to even outsiders.
Red Bull juniors & others in the B-team are generally on a general RB deal that allows back-forth switching between the two teams.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th July 2023, 11:16
@jerejj
We don’t know that. Perez was pretty desperate for the Red Bull drive at the end of 2021. He could have definite performance clauses that can drop him from the main team. At the end of the day, Perez won’t be too upset about securing a drive with another team in case he was dropped from Red Bull. He almost wasn’t on the grid for 2022.
Philip (@philipgb)
18th July 2023, 20:22
The thing is if they say to him that his performance is so bad they will bench him and pay him not to race, then after his contract expires that’s his career finished or, he takes the other teams spare seat and maybe has half a hope of salvaging his career to a midfield team what is he going to choose?
BasCB (@bascb)
18th July 2023, 22:42
As @jerejj mentions, I seriously doubt Perez would just agree to “drop to AT” @todfod. When he was signed, he might have had a wonky contract, but when they resigned him and extended the contract he had been doing a good job and they really needed him. Also, he always has and had the confidence of being able to bring backing with him.
And honestly, if / when Red Bull get to a point where they don’t believe Perez is delivering, they will just sack him regardless (I doubt the money would be an issue for them, given they would only do so if Daniel shows he would be good enough). Why would they want to shift him over into AT at that point?
This really is the classic Red Bull approach of putting a seemingly underperforming driver under pressure. Daniel is put in a pressure cooker to perform and cash in on that chance they gave him. Yuki is under pressure to not be soundly beaten and be dropped soon too. And Perez is put under pressure to immediately step up or lose his drive and comfort.
Will it work? So far is seemed to work for some drivers, but the likes of Gasly, Kvyat, Albon and to an extent Daniel (as soon as the team set their mind on Max instead) and many others who never even came this far, I would include De Vries in this too, I guess, did not do well under this type of pressure. Then again, they did get a chance and most of them should have been able to see they were stepping into this pressure cooker when they did.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 22:58
@bascb I disagree that ricciardo failed under pressure when at red bull, it’s just verstappen was becoming stronger and he was never verstappen level across a whole weekend; he could beat him occasionally, like barrichello did to schumacher, though I guess at his peak he’s relatively better in relation to verstappen.
He just didn’t like that the team started revolving around verstappen (as it should be, the faster driver) and decided to try a very risky gamble with renault, which didn’t work.
I believe he’d have had several victories over the last years had he stayed at red bull and for example they’d have won the constructor’s title in 2021, he’d have done better than bottas.
BasCB (@bascb)
18th July 2023, 23:07
I think he did let the pressure get to him – that is why he decided to get out of it @esploratore1, i am not sure he would have won that much in the Red Bull team more and more focussed on Max.
But then, this really is something we can easily disagree on, since he left and we never got to see what would have been.
Matt (@hollidog)
18th July 2023, 16:34
De Vries also had a contract till the end of the year. Contract’s in F1 are just words on a page.
Laz
18th July 2023, 18:57
No. Contracts ensure quite a few things. If for example Red Bull had a performance clause in it they may well have been able to sack him for not fulfilling the criteria, but also if they had no performance clause then while they could still sack De Vries they would have had to pay out his contract to do so, much like Mclaren had to do with Daniel Ricciardo. So you see it’s never a case of simple tearing up a contract, they have to be honoured financially if there are no clauses within.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 23:01
Yes, ofc, but I guess the above poster means that, especially now with budget cap, a team like red bull who used to spend 300 mil a year just to develop the car, and now spend less than 150 mil, can very easily afford to pay 8 mil contrat clause or whatever, so in effect they can break whatever contract they like if the driver is not performing.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 23:02
contract*
Todfod (@todfod)
18th July 2023, 8:52
If Dan can beat Yuki from the get go in an Alpha Tauri, there’s no doubt that he’ll replace Perez for 2024. I feel Horner is just being coy by not mentioning a 2024 seat, as he still requires Perez to perform at a decent enough level to secure a P1-P2 finish at the end of the WDC.
Red bull son’t strike me as a team that will wait an entire season with an underperforming #2 driver, when they are sure they have a driver that will perform better in that seat straight away. It took them only one race weekend (Monza 2022), to make the decision to hire Nyck… and now it took them only 11 laps to decide that Dan should be in that seat instead. So, why wait the entire 2024 season to fire Perez?
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
18th July 2023, 9:56
Not sure how long you’ve been watching F1 but yes RB have a habit of dropping drivers mid-season if they’re not performing.
Danill Kyvat, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon have all been dropped rather quickly; the former two mid-season.
Granted, I don’t think any of them had long-term contracts; but I don’t think this would matter all that much as have been proven by Ricciardo himself getting the flick from McLaren.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th July 2023, 11:19
Well.. since you’ve asked.. I’ve been watching it for 28 years. Quite a while before Red Bull racing was around.. and probably you were.
I also don’t know if you’re agreeing with me or disagreeing with me, as you seem to have mentioned the exact same point I did… that Red Bull drop or hire drivers quick and would have Dan in that seat for 2024 if he gets back on form.
S
18th July 2023, 10:32
Which was clearly not enough, then…
Of course they didn’t base it on only that – de Vries has plenty of form in other categories, which is far more telling.
However, you never really know how someone will go in an unfamiliar situation until they are there – and being in one of the ‘worst’ cars and teams on the grid blows all the small issues way out of proportion.
Ricciardo, they know already. They certainly haven’t made any decision with him based on just 11 laps.
I have an opinion
18th July 2023, 12:08
If Ricciardo does well immediately and Perez’s slump continues, the drivers could be swapped after the summer break this year ie after only two races.
JCH1977
18th July 2023, 17:24
Seems unlikely as long as Perez shows he’s able to achieve P2 in the WDC, which Red Bull has never achieved and have as a priority.
In the unlikely event his performance keeps dropping and makes P2 in the WDC out of reach, he will be axed. This is pragmatism.
ppzzus (@ppzzus)
18th July 2023, 17:46
the situation with perez is different to most other RB contracts. Perez has sponsors on the car that he brings to the team. Makes it very difficult to get him out of the seat mid year.
Jere (@jerejj)
19th July 2023, 6:18
@ppzzus Sponsor money (& external factors generally) has always been secondary to Red Bull, unlike some smaller teams before becoming financially stable, but ofc, any possible change would only concern next season regardless.
Jere (@jerejj)
18th July 2023, 7:41
That first available opportunity could already arise for next season if he does well & Checo simultaneously continues to be subpar.
JB22
18th July 2023, 7:42
They should give Ricciardo the seat next year. Barricheco is washed and a fraud, there is no point in letting him drive that rocketship.
MacLeod (@macleod)
18th July 2023, 7:53
He isn’t that bad he is only not as good as Max …
Alex
18th July 2023, 8:23
In general I agree with you, but for the last five races his performance (in particular under pressure in qualifying) has been genuinely poor… to the point where just drivers on the grid would have done better with that machinery.
He was arguably the 2nd-best 2nd driver last year, behind Russell, and that talent is still there – but I think it’s fair to wonder how quickly and easily he can tap into it again.
He seems a lovely guy, so both for him and the racing, I hope that starts this weekend. Fingers crossed
Todfod (@todfod)
18th July 2023, 8:57
@macleod
He’s actually pretty bad. Hasn’t reached Q3 in the last 5 races… crashed multiple times during qualifying… etc. If Lance Stroll and Perez were in the Red Bull this year, my money would be on Alonso and Hamilton fighting Perez for a closely contested WDC. Instead, we have Max putting in the most dominating performance by any driver for a WDC challenge. Just goes to show the driver still makes a difference.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 23:07
You mustn’t forget perez of early season was NOT beatable for non red bill drivers; if you put stroll as his team mate, perez wouldn’t lose performance like he did this year and as far as I see there’d be no chance for now for hamilton or alonso.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 23:07
bull*, though the typo is fun with the budget cap saga.
JB22
18th July 2023, 9:41
Being 99 points behind your team mate after 10 races is shocking. Not making Q3 with the fastest car 5 times in a row is even worse. Stop making excuses for Slowrez.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th July 2023, 11:21
Poorez has more of a ring to it.
Señor Sjon
18th July 2023, 12:13
It was only 6 points after Baku (race 4). So he lost 93 points in 6 races.
But will we have Ricciardo Patrese replacing Barricheco for 2024? ;)
MacLeod (@macleod)
18th July 2023, 13:35
While I like Checo i don’t want to make excuses for him but he does not well when it’s colder (wet) as he is know late breaker which doesn’t help of putting heath into his fronts,
CarWars (@maxv)
18th July 2023, 14:57
10 races, not counting sprint race, of just finishing 2nd would leave Perez 80 behind. So 93 isnt even that shocking. More shocking is that Max can now finish every race 2nd and win the championship.
Illusive (@illusive)
18th July 2023, 8:18
Next year keeping 2nd in the drivers championship might get difficult for Checo, lets see if he is able to keep it this year though.
SadF1fan
18th July 2023, 8:15
If Perez doesn’t make it to Q3 in the next race and Riccairdo does, 2025 is going to move up very fast.
Red Bull can afford to be ruthless again, they have one of the most desirable raceseats in F1.
Only Facts!
18th July 2023, 10:49
RedBull advantage the last two years gives them the luxury of having an underperforming, yet complying, second driver. Verstsppen doesn’t need a wingman, as he is half a second per lap ahead.
But he needed one in 2021, and he may need again as soon as other teams catch up. This is already happening, and 2025 seems a good aiming point to see Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston and who knows, McLaren giving RBR a hard time.
Señor Sjon
18th July 2023, 12:14
With a wingman in 2021, Masi would still be leading the races.
David BR (@david-br)
18th July 2023, 17:18
? Not sure I understand your post. Pérez did assist Verstappen in 2021 at various moments (while Bottas was in demob state) and his radical slowing down of Hamilton towards the end of the final race was absolutely critical to the outcome – as both Horner and Verstappen acknowledged.
Miane
18th July 2023, 19:18
Bottas took Max out of a race, that’s more than Perez did in the entire season (it’s fun how people only remember the last race and not what happened the entire season).
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 23:10
Not only: he took both red bulls out basically from that race!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 23:10
He basically left hamilton with no opponents, except the bad strategist!
Edvaldo
18th July 2023, 15:00
the other teams are catching up? I don’t see how Red Bull can lose the massive ground they have ahead of the rest before 2026.
Max is virtually a 5X WDC already and only a very specific rule change that would hit them where it hurts the most (like that of 2021 with Mercedes) can change this.
Robert Henning
18th July 2023, 16:16
Given that there was already a similar rule change last year, not sure what makes you think that.
sam
18th July 2023, 16:35
The race results…..that’s how we think that.
Edvaldo
18th July 2023, 17:13
exactly, some people really need us to go that extra obvious.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
18th July 2023, 11:09
Why can’t they get a top driver instead? It’s as bad as Tony Blair’s deal to make Gordon Brown his successor… just get the best person available. Max can handle it, he’s a grown-up (isn’t he?) OK, I know that’s how Frank Williams used to operate – he went to see Prost and told him “I’ve signed Senna!” And it didn’t go down too well…
And that front-row talk is nonsense. Was it on a drying track? With all the pressure of a Q3 run?
MichaelN
18th July 2023, 15:28
Hamilton won’t leave Mercedes, and that about covers the proven top drivers. It’s not like there’s a dozen of them to choose from.
Edvaldo
18th July 2023, 15:51
At this point in time, it doesn’t even need to be a proven winner, as the only 2 available, Hamilton and Alonso, are so much older.
Norris, Russell, Leclerc.. anybody whom we know won’t get there and be confortable being treated as the other one, and with the talent to back it would be fine.
Robert Henning
18th July 2023, 16:18
None of them are feasible and one of them has rejected two approaches already.
This is the situation. RB should aim to get someone like a Piastri in the seat.
melanos
21st July 2023, 20:56
Whom are you calling a top driver? ROFL
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 23:20
Williams telling prost he signed senna? Then it must’ve been after prost retired, I thought your argument was about team managers not being afraid to hire 2 top drivers, in which case it must’ve been ron dennis, and prost actually picked senna as team mate over piquet, then regretted it after their issues.
Mayrton
18th July 2023, 12:29
I am somehow not convinced Ricciardo will deliver. He’s been off the pace for several seasons at various teams. Hopefully I am proven wrong.
Miane
18th July 2023, 19:20
Several season at various teams = 2 seasons at Mclaren…
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 23:23
Agree with miane here, renault performance was fine.
Ankita
18th July 2023, 13:14
I read in the comments that RIC is already replacing PER in 2024 … Not too fast. PER has always performed poorly during the European season and then he suddenly picks up the pace as soon as the Asian races start. This is why PER normally ends seasons on a high. If this is again in 2023, RBR will decide to keep him. If RIC proves to be as competitive as before, I cannot imagine how he is going to fare against VER. PER dreamed of being a WC but RIC, if he is back in form, will truly believe that he is. You don’t want that attitude to be alongside VER. So, as long as PER keeps P2, PER’s seat for 2024 appears to be safe.
MichaelN
18th July 2023, 15:26
It won’t matter if he can’t make a huge jump in performance. He couldn’t even stay remotely close to Norris, but wants to beat Verstappen?
It’s a nice goal to have, but hardly one backed up by recent results.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 23:24
Yes, not realistic even if you use the best ricciardo we saw as comparison.
Ankita
19th July 2023, 6:17
I agree with both of you. But surely RIC does not want to accept that. And whenever he has the chance to beat VER he will go for it. And VER will fight back. So, why to have that scenario when the VER/PER relationship is already tested and everyone accepts his role ?
CarWars (@maxv)
18th July 2023, 14:32
Isnt it nearly always the case that tests after the race beat the qualification times? As the track now has serious added rubber vs the quali condition? Was there any decent benchmarker setting a time that we can compare to?
CarWars (@maxv)
18th July 2023, 14:41
Seems his best lap time was a 1:27.415, which was seven-tenths off pole position 1:26.720. Not sure if they used the same tires. Wouldn’t classify +0.7s as great.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
18th July 2023, 20:13
@maxv That time of 1:26.720 would have put Daniel around about 8th place on the starting grid (assuming everything else was the same). Both Yuki and Nyck failed to progress to Q2. Nyck’s best Q1 time was 1:30.513. His best lap time during the race was 1:32.353. If we assume the car was set up the same for Daniel as for Nyck, and that there weren’t any impediments preventing Nyck from driving faster (which we can’t be sure about), then it is obvious Daniel has produced a much better lap time.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
18th July 2023, 20:58
@drycrust Ricciardo drove a Red Bull, not an Alpha Tauri, so comparing his time to Nyck’s and Yuki’s is irrelevant.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
19th July 2023, 8:23
@matthijs Thank you for telling me this. I believe Red Bull Corporation would have expected this situation to be handled in such a way as to give the impression of impartiality, but it is looking like that wasn’t the case. I agree that Daniel driving a RBR car shouldn’t be compared to Yuki and Nyck driving the AT car, but it appears Dr Marko considers the difference in lap time as relevant. That makes the whole episode much sadder because it suggests Nyck’s dismissal was constructively dismissed. We have Daniel being given special coaching to drive much faster than he had been for the last few years, but Nyck wasn’t given the same coaching, then Daniel was given a car reputed to be the best car on the grid and asked to do some lap times, and those lap times were used to justify dismissing Nyck, who wasn’t given an opportunity to do a lap time in the same car, but had to try and beat Daniel’s time in a car which is considered to be slower.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
18th July 2023, 14:43
A lot of things can go wrong in a race weekend situation compared to testing. It’s too early to say how Danny will do and the AT car is not a Red Bull. However, I expect he will do better than De Vries once he’s used to things.
If Daniel does do well then I still doubt he will be back in Red Bull at the start of next season. I suspect that even Red Bull will give a chance to Checo for a few races at the start of next year. It depends of course how well he finished off this year. Surely this run of not even getting to Q3 must come to an end soon.
It seems Daniel is definitely on the radar of Red Bull though to be Max’s no.2. How fascinating it will be to see how this all develops.
CarWars (@maxv)
18th July 2023, 14:55
funnily enough Ricciardo had a similar spin as de Vries at Silverstone testing. This could end in tears. Good they can test him in AT.
SteveP
18th July 2023, 19:42
People see it as an ambition of Ricciardo’s to move from AT to RBR, presumably taking the statement from CH “Daniel Ricciardo has set his sights on returning to Red Bull at the first available opportunity after securing his Formula 1 comeback this weekend, says team principal Christian Horner.” as meaning “Daniel has set himself a target”
The more likely situation is that CH and HM have set the target(s) and the conditions for achieving it/them.
I’d say that was a far more believable reason for Daniel being happy to jump into the AT.
We’ve already seen mention of his first target (without DR saying they were targets set by someone else) – beat the qualification and race finish positions racked up by De Vries. He mentioned a specific range of positions (14 – 8)
If he fails to match or exceed De Vries, I think he’s toast.
The outcome will probably affect a number of other people, with Tsunoda being the first on the list of “others”
The more of the targets he hits, the more the ground erodes under Perez.
MichaelN
18th July 2023, 15:23
That’s a lot of hype for a driver who hasn’t done much of note in years. Even way back when he was driving for Red Bull in 2018 he was already outclassed by a then much younger and less experienced Verstappen.
But Red Bull has no other option on their roster to put Pérez on note, so they’ll be sure to make the most of it when/if Ricciardo manages to do better than Tsunoda (quite the benchmark!). No doubt the English-dominated F1 press will happily play along to promote a fellow subject of their king.
JJ (@jjfrazz)
18th July 2023, 16:13
It’s not quite clear what this circus is all about? Horner is a piece of work!
It would seem that sending DR to AT is a way to get him out of the RB motor home! Having watched F1 for a number of decades, I never thought DR was anything but a showboat. I certainly hope that he has a decent run at AT, but forget about him ever driving a Red Bull with Max still on the team.
As for SP, isn’t he second in the championship despite the disasters of the last few races? What a terrible driver he is!
Miane
18th July 2023, 19:21
The closest showboat they had alongside Max.
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
18th July 2023, 17:17
Tell me Checo is formally on notice without telling me Checo is formally on notice!
David BR (@david-br)
18th July 2023, 17:24
Ricciardo is ideal for Red Bull alongside Verstappen. Faster than Checo (they think going by Ricciardo’s lap times at Silverstone), a better race, but a known quantity – i.e. known to be slower than Max. So, perfect.
The question is when. They’d actually be better promoting Ricciardo as rapidly as possible. Being stuck in that AlphaTauri too long (more than a few races) could be counter-productive. They seem to have been so calculating so far, surely that would be their best scenario. It would also add some spice again to the season if Ricciardo could challenge Verstappen more in the races (clearly not the championship). Obviously they’re not going to say it, though. The question is whether it’s feasible in terms of Pérez’s contract and funding.
José Lopes da Silva
18th July 2023, 17:40
This story is likely the most important for us to understand modern F1.
Ricciardo’s slump at McLaren was weird and without a real historical precedent.
If he can recover his previous level, this means it’s not a case of Yips. It can mean that modern F1 is so technically detailed and complex that some drivers can only perform at the perfect environment?
Or is it that there are, after all, historical precedents for this?
It’s up for the professionals to investigate.
Miane
18th July 2023, 19:25
Environment was always very important, this is more noticeable in feeder series like F2 (Lundgaard gone from a disapointing second season in F2 to be a front runner in Indycar, Drugovich turned it around from a season to another.)
SteveP
18th July 2023, 19:48
Always is, in any work situation.
There are management theorists that covered this many years ago (plus new ones rehashing and painting their own name on.)
Matthijs (@matthijs)
18th July 2023, 21:08
I think there are indeed historical precedents to slumps, very recent ones. Take Vettel’s 2014 season for example or his final season at Ferrari. All of the sudden he seemed very mediocre. Many top tier drivers had slumps; Schumacher’s Mercedes period, Raikkonen’s second period at Ferrari. I don’t think (anymore) that Ricciardo is a top tier driver, but I wouldn’t write him off just yet after his slump at McLaren.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th July 2023, 23:31
It’s normal to be off the pace when over 40, injured and several years out of practice; what alonso is doing is the exception to the rule.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
19th July 2023, 7:09
@esploratore1 Agreed, and we didn’t know how good Nico Rosberg was back then. I should have left Schumacher out, but my comment still stands with Vettel and Raikkonen.
Fihar (@)
18th July 2023, 18:21
Not surprising.
I never bought the argument about how Perez is quicker than any of Max’s previous teammates post-Ricciardo. It’s more like Red Bull has had a rocket of a car since 2021 that realistically speaking, Perez doesn’t have to worry about getting swallowed up in the midfield. Unless he absolutely bins it, which has happened in the last few qualifying sesions.
Put him in the 2019 or 2020 Red Bull, and I highly doubt that Perez can be any faster than Gasly and/or Albon.
SteveP
18th July 2023, 19:53
It would be interesting to put him in the AlphaTauri and see if he can beat Tsunoda, although I suspect that assessment (of Tsunoda) is part of the DR mission.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
18th July 2023, 21:54
I found this interesting. It suggests if Daniel had driven the way he wanted to at the recent test then his time would have been approximately the same or even worse than Nyck’s time. This then raises the question of whether or not Nyck could have produced similar results as Daniel did at the recent test if he was given the same opportunity to be evaluated and coached by Red Bull Racing as Daniel was given. My guess is he wasn’t, and that he would have produced even better times in Qualifying and the race than he did if he was given the same sort of coaching Daniel was given. One has to also ask whether Sergio is coached the same way Daniel was. My guess is he is, or at least he would be if he was prepared to listen and learn. If he isn’t getting that same sort of coaching then he needs to ask for it (and to listen and learn). Also, Yuki needs to at least ask if he can be evaluated and coached the same way as Daniel was, and if necessary to be coached by them as well, because he needs to show he is at least as good as Daniel.
This leads us to the question of whether or not AT are as critical and strict about the way their drivers drive as Red Bull Racing are. From what we can tell it appears as though they are letting their drivers drive in a way which wouldn’t be acceptable at RBR. If they aren’t then they need to improve their training and coaching to bring their simulator sessions up to the level Red Bull Racing are at, and if there is a difference then Dr Marko needs to own part of the responsibility for the lower standard at AT because he is the one responsible for terminating Nyck’s contract. Basically AT were saying Nyck was an A+ in the simulator and now we discover he was just a C.
In regards to “he’d picked up every bad habit imaginable when he was working with this previous engineer”, the responsibility for this goes back to Daniel. He is supposed to be the expert on driving an F1 car, and especially his way of doing it, so he should know what “habits” hinder his performance and which ones don’t.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
19th July 2023, 7:13
@drycrust In the article, Red Bull admits that De Vries was just a stopgap, so the team will agree with you that he did not get the same treatment. Although De Vries is a victim of the circumstances, he could have turned it around if he had produced better results. There are three drivers and only two seats and De Vries was the worst of the three.
anon
19th July 2023, 7:30
@matthijs on the other hand, if Red Bull were taking the attitude that de Vries was a stop gap solution and not a driver they wanted for the long term, it also begs the question of how much support they were interested in giving de Vries in the first place. Are you likely to bother investing that many resources into a driver you don’t particularly want?
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
19th July 2023, 9:58
@matthijs Even if Nyck was a stop gap that doesn’t excuse Alpha Tauri and Red Bull from giving him the opportunity to be the best driver he could be. Lots of people invested in Nyck to get him to be able to drive in F1, and this is how Red Bull and AT have rewarded that investment. Why wasn’t Nyck given the same coaching Daniel was given? Why wasn’t Nyck given the same car to drive at the tyre test as Daniel got? If that had been done and Daniel was clearly better than Nyck then one would have to admit Daniel is a better driver, but instead we have two different drivers given two different types of coaching and two different cars to drive, and the one who was given the higher standard of training and the faster car to drive was the one who produced the faster lap time. Because of the favouritism shown to Daniel we are left with the suspicion Nyck could have produced at least the same results as Daniel will, and maybe even better results than Daniel will.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
19th July 2023, 21:29
@drycrust
All valid points from De Vries’s perspective or from those that want him to succeed in F1. But look at it from Red Bull’s perspective. De Vries performed worse than they expected and then they have Ricciardo: a known quantity for Red Bull with a high peak when in the right car and environmwnt. And he showed glimpses of that peak during his test. I agree that with the right coaching and more experience De Vries could develop like a Gasly or an Albon, but Red Bull would still prefer Ricciardo.