Ricciardo says AlphaTauri drive offers “best path” back to “dream” Red Bull seat

Daniel Ricciardo says regaining his seat at Red Bull would be a “dream” outcome from his return to Formula 1 with AlphaTauri.

However he is not setting any expectations ahead of his first race weekend back at AlphaTauri – Red Bull’s junior squad which he last raced for 10 years ago, when it was called Toro Rosso.

Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of 2018 to join Renault. Following a subsequent stint at McLaren, which was cut short as his performances fell short of expectations, he returned to Red Bull as a reserve and test driver.

Following a successful tyre test for Red Bull at Silverstone last week, Ricciardo has returned to a race seat in place of ousted AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said this week Ricciardo hopes to use his return to convince them to put him back in the top squad. Ricciardo said today that’s “the dream, so to speak.”

However he said he needs to focus on getting the most out of the car he has for the last 12 races of this year.

“There’s no point in me thinking about that in terms of there’s going to be a lot of work to do here,” he said in response to a question from RaceFans. “I think in terms of expectation, there is none.

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“It’s just, for me, everything I felt driving the car last week is how I want to go racing again. I just want to be in the moment, enjoying it, not thinking too far ahead.”

AlphaTauri is enduring a poor 2023 and is currently last in the championship standings. “I’ve obviously been following and I’m sure the car is going to have some limitations but I’m going to do the best with what I got,” said Ricciardo.

“If it’s something that I feel I can work with, then that’s all I need to feel good behind the wheel again and also, obviously, use some of my experience to push the team. So as far as this weekend goes if you say ‘where do you want to finish?’, I couldn’t tell you. I just want to know that I’ve put everything into it and done a lot that I’m proud of.”

After losing his drive at McLaren last year, Ricciardo said he only wanted to return to F1 with a top team. He explained what made him change his mind.

“Obviously I had enough time off to reset but also just kind of enjoy it again. I already felt that on the simulator so far this year. But then also that’s why I wanted to drive the car and really make sure that it’s still obviously truly what I love doing most.

“I was up to speed really quick and it felt so good again. Obviously tasting the Red Bull car got me pretty excited. I knew also everything that happened the last few years and getting back into the sport, taking some time off, I knew it would be very hard to go back at the top.

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“So of course that was my wish. But I think also you need to be realistic at some point and say ‘okay, if I want to get back to, say, a Red Bull seat, then it’s going to take a bit of a process and a path’. And this for me is the best path at the moment.”

Returning to a team and an environment he is already familiar with also had an appeal for Ricciardo after the disappointment of cutting short his stint at McLaren.

“Six months ago I probably wasn’t in a place to jump at an opportunity like this, but that’s been the luxury of time now where I’ve just felt so much more like I guess I’ve fallen in love with it again,” he said. “I feel like I’d be myself again, probably back as well in an environment that just gives me a lot of nostalgia.

“I spent a lot of my career here and a lot of my journey and my junior days were here. Talking to Helmut [Marko, Red Bull motorsport consultant] again more regularly, it kind of feels like it’s where I belong. So when the opportunity came, I thought absolutely, let’s try and that’s that.”

Red Bull have Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez under contract for next season. The team have not set Ricciardo any targets to achieve in order to secure a return.

“I think already getting an opportunity is kind of another chance to make things better,” he said. “So I think that’s as well why I was excited to get back behind the wheel and just show my true self, and even kind of the thought of that excites me. Obviously the dream is a Red Bull seat, but there is no like ‘this is what you need to do’.

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“Everything’s happened so quick. Obviously the test was the first box I needed to tick, that was great. But now it’s like this is obviously another hurdle. You know what they’re like, they’re not like ‘take it easy’, they’re like ‘show us what you got’. But there’s no criteria.”

He described how Red Bull decided “pretty quickly” to offer him a drive at AlphaTauri after he began last week’s test at Silverstone, and not wait until the summer break in two race’s time to make the change.

“I know being back in the family now how things can change quick,” said Ricciardo. “I always tried to stay as ready as possible, also in case obviously Max or Checo was unfit to drive, but you know at any time something can change.

“For sure, probably slightly more conventionally, it would be in the summer break. But we know Red Bull is a little unconventional which is totally fine.

“There was a little bit of chat over the [British Grand Prix] weekend but it was really just ‘wait and see how the test goes’ and see, obviously, how I feel, and we go from there. Obviously I felt really good in the car and it went well and then it was pretty much like ‘well, you look ready, so let’s do it’.”

Ricciardo spent several days in Red Bull’s simulator which he said gave Horner and Marko the confidence to put him in their car.

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“The sim had kept getting better and better, to a point where I think Christian and Helmut had got some belief in me again,” he explained. “The test was just that last probably box that needed to be ticked and to make sure that I could translate everything on track. So it was already off probably two runs there was some smiles in the garage and I think that was pretty much it.”

In contrast he has only had one day in AlphaTauri’s simulator to get used to their car. Although the AT04 shared the same Honda RBPT power unit as the Red Bull, it is unlike the world champions’ car in other ways. “It is different, for sure,” said Ricciardo, who recognised he needs to start afresh with their new car.

“It helps driving a good car because it gives you something to aim for in terms of development, set-up and where there is potential within these regulations,” he said. “But also, in saying that, I also need to erase a lot of that from my mind and just start fresh now with the AlphaTauri. This is it, this is what it is and we need to move forward from here.

“But I mean, the sim was good, but it was also important for me just to work with Pierre [Hamelin], who’ll be my engineer, just to make sure that we speak the same language, are on the same page, and we have that connection because that’s obviously really important as well.”

Ricciardo has not driven any racing cars during his seven months out of action, and only ridden dirt bikes. Despite that he is confident his fitness level will not compromise his performance.

“I was told I would do the test already a few months ago, so I knew I needed to prepare for the test. So I have been training, I’ve been keeping up.

“But the truth is if you don’t drive an F1 car for so long, you’re going to be sore. And for sure I was sore and stiff. This is already a physical track so if you see me sweating a lot on Sunday, don’t be surprised.

“But I feel, for someone that hasn’t driven for so long, I feel I’m in the best condition I can be and I’ll just suck it up a little bit the first few. I’m sure I’ll be a little bit sore but it’s nothing that’s concerning me moving forward to. If I’m fighting for points at the end of the race, I ain’t going to lose the points because of me being tired.”

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