Ricciardo's AlphaTauri Return Was Initially Opposed By Red Bull

Saturday, 13 January 2024 at 13:00

Peter Bayer, the CEO of the AlphaTauri team, revealed that Daniel Ricciardo's move to AlphaTauri was initially blocked by Red Bull.

Being first a junior team and now a sister team of Red Bull Racing (owned by the same company), AlphaTauri can share drivers with the team from Milton Keynes.

It was quite common to see drivers moving between Red Bull and AlphaTauri in the past. Some recent examples include Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Daniil Kvyat.

At the beginning of the 2023 season, AlphaTauri gave a chance to a rookie driver, Nyck De Vries. The CEO of the team, however, revealed he already had a backup plan in case the Dutchman couldn't meet the expectations of his performance. he told motorsport-magazin.com:

"When I started, I always looked a bit and thought to myself: If Nyck de Vries doesn't make it in terms of performance, then Daniel would be a great solution for us."

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But the problem was that Red Bull initially opposed the idea, saying Ricciardo was supposed to be a reserve driver. Bayer explained:

"Originally, it was said: No, Daniel is a reserve driver at Red Bull, and it stays that way. And then, over the course of a month, we actually kept asking how things were going."

While the idea of Ricciardo going to AlphaTauri was initially opposed, it was said the decision would be made based on the Pirelli tire test with Red Bull's RB19 at Silverstone circuit.

"At some point, Christian Horner came to us and said: We're doing the test at Silverstone, maybe we'll take a look at it. Then Helmut said: Yes, why not?"

The above-mentioned test with Red Bull went incredibly well for the Honey Badger, who revealed his first timed lap was a few hundred off Verstappen's pole position time at the same circuit a weekend before.

The Australian's results were convincing enough for Red Bull leaders to put him back in the F1 car the following grand prix. The CEO of the Italian team has no doubt about the benefit of his presence for the team.

"Daniel has experience, so he helps us with the setup on all the routes. Daniel is a real reference for Yuki. He brought an incredible amount of new energy into the team within a week."