After a dismal start to his Formula One career with the Italian outfit, De Vries was released on Tuesday after only 10 grand prix. Now that De Vries' departure is official, AlphaTauri has stated that Red Bull's third driver, Daniel Ricciardo, would replace the Dutchman for the duration of the 2023 season. Red Bull recruited De Vries to drive with Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri for the 2023 season, rather than Pierre Gasly, who left for Alpine. The team's first pick, Colton Herta, the winner of an IndyCar race, could not get an F1 super licence, thus the team opted for the second-best option. After being called in to replace Albon at the Italian Grand Prix, where he scored points in his debut, De Vries appeared as a possible replacement. That race convinced Red Bull racing adviser Helmut Marko that De Vries should join the AlphaTauri.
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F1: Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull
After being released from McLaren late last year, a year before the end of his contract, Daniel Ricciardo rejoined the Red Bull team as a third driver. The 34-year-old Australian decided to take a break following a demanding season with the Woking team, but he has remained race-ready and just finished his first test with the latest Red Bull RB19.
Red Bull has given Ricciardo 12 races at AlphaTauri to show that he can recover from his 2022 departure and compete with Sergio Perez for the Red Bull spot next to Max Verstappen. Before going on to Renault and subsequently, McLaren, the Australian won seven of his eight F1 races for Red Bull with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. Prior to joining Red Bull's primary squad in 2014, Ricciardo raced for Toro Roso in 2012 and 2013.
After a successful test at Silverstone, Ricciardo said, "I am stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family!"
"I’m very pleased to welcome Daniel back into the team. There’s no doubt about his driving skills, and he already knows many of us, so his integration will be easy and straightforward. The team will also profit a lot from his experience, as he is an eight-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner," the Australian added.
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F1: Will Daniel Ricciardo be Promoted to Red Bell Seat in Future?
For the first time since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year, Red Bull put Ricciardo back in the driver's seat of an F1 vehicle for a tyre test. Red Bull's senior adviser Helmut Marko revealed earlier this month that they planned to utilise the tyre test to "evaluate" Ricciardo's speed.
Recently, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has been dominating the competition, while Sergio Perez has been much slower. Perez's recent difficulties in qualifying have put him well behind Verstappen in the World Championship standings. There has been talk of replacing Perez with Daniel Ricciardo as he slips farther behind in the championship standings.
For Red Bull to lose the Constructors' Championship to Mercedes, Perez would need a much worse breakdown, but not being able to compete at the front with two cars might still hurt his reputation. Ricciardo will have a strong case to replace the Mexican the next year if he can maintain a high point total in an AlphaTauri and assist the team climb out of last place in the constructors' rankings.
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