Sergio Perez He is going through his most difficult moment since he came to Red Bull. The Mexican is in the best team in the World Cup and drives the same car as Max Verstappen. But while the Dutchman is sweeping this year, with eight wins out of ten possible and a 99-point lead in the World Cup, Checo accumulates very negative statistics. He hasn’t qualified for Q3 in the last few grands prix. It is the first time in 17 years that a Red Bull driver has had such a low average qualifying position. Helmut Marko ‘hits’ him publicly every time he fails and the commitment to Daniel Ricciardo, who will replace Nyck De Vries in the Alpha Tauri subsidiary team starting this weekend in Hungary, is a real threat.
???????? close @danielricciardo ???? ???? #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/GCAlilvCCu
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) July 20, 2023
In the statement released last week by Red Bull to announce the promotion of Ricciardo, who held the role of reserve driver after losing his wheel at McLaren in 2022, those from Milton Keynes made it clear that the Australian arrives at Alpha Tauri “in condition of ceded”. The director of Red Bull, Christian Horner assures that Pérez has the position secured in 2024but admits a hypothetical return of the Australian to the team, with which he achieved seven victories between 2014 and 2018.
“At the moment there is only something until the end of the season. So there are no thoughts or expectations beyond that. We have loaned it to AlphaTauri until the end of the year. Obviously our drivers will be Max and ‘Checo’ again next year. But it’s always good to have talent in reserve,” Horner says of Ricciardo.
“I think Daniel is seeing AlphaTauri as his golden goal, he strongly wants to fight for that seat at Red Bull in 2025. And going to AlphaTauri I think he sees it as his best route to present his candidacy for 2025. We will see”, admits Horner , who after attending Ricciardo’s tire test at the wheel of the RB19 last Tuesday at Silverstone assured that “he has impressed us, his times have been extremely competitive”.
????️ “It is great to see Daniel hasn’t lost any form while away from racing. We are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for him on loan at @AlphaTauriF1.”
Christian on the news that @DanielRicciardo will race for Scuderia AlphaTauri for the rest of the 2023 season.
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 11, 2023
The sudden dismissal of De Vries after only ten races, was another example of the particular way of acting of Red Bull and Helmut Marko, adviser and head of the driver program of the energy drink team. In 2016, Daniil Kvyat was lowered to the subsidiary in the middle of the season to promote Max his ‘crusher’, pilots such as Jaime Alguersuari, Sebastien Buemi, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon or Pierre Gasly, among others, have also passed, including Ricciardo himself in 2018.
Marko, always forceful, confessed in Silverstone that Pérez’s position is not in danger, because they do not have a substitute: “There is nobody,” he said. Now, the movement with Ricciardo in Alpha Tauri becomes a litmus test. The Australian has twelve races to prove himself. If he succeeds and Checo does not overcome his current crisis, the change of roles could be a reality in 2024.
“I felt very good driving the Red Bull in testing, but I know that the AlphaTauri car has its limitations. I’m going to do my best and I hope to use all my experience to push the team forward. I would like to be able to go for a lap this weekend that I can be proud of”, Ricciardo assured upon his arrival at the Hungaroring on Thursday.
The bet for Daniel will also serve to evaluate Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese, in his third season in Alpha Tauri, has clearly won the game over De Vries, who did not score any points in his ten races with the Faenza team. But it will be interesting to see if he fares well in comparison to a teammate with the Australian’s experience and resume.
If Ricciardo, 33, confirms that he is still the driver who at the end of 2018 made “the most difficult decision of his career” by leaving Red Bull to sign for Renault, he will be able to aspire to return to the position he left five years ago. Otherwise, he will take the path of his final goodbye to Formula 1.
2023-07-20 13:37:26
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