21/06/2023
NEWS STORY
Seeking a "fairy-tale" return to the world championship winning team, Daniel Ricciardo admits that a period at AlphaTauri may be necessary.
Though he remains one of the most popular drivers in the sport, certainly in terms of those new fans won over by his antics on Drive to Survive, Daniel Ricciardo has yet to convince team bosses that he is worthy of a full-time return to the grid.
While it is understandable that he left Red Bull, aware that the Austrian outfit was destined to become Max Verstappen's team, many felt the move to Renault - said to be worth £20m a year - was all about money.
When McLaren came knocking Renault was sent packing, however, much like Red Bull, Ricciardo soon discovered that at the Woking outfit also there was bias towards one particular driver.
His talent undoubted, Ricciardo struggled in his first season with McLaren, the Australian never happy with his car and even having to adapt his driving style, but for the most part to no avail.
Early in his second season, Zak Brown was publicly claiming that the Australian was "not living up to expectations". The end result was inevitable.
While many totally sympathised with his plight, feeling he had been unfairly treated by the Woking team, others remain unconvinced by his commitment.
With his various business interests, a TV series in the pipeline and now a role as an alternative pundit, some feel Ricciardo, currently test and reserve driver for the Milton Keynes outfit, should be devoting more time to getting back into an F1 car at the earliest possible opportunity.
Speaking to ESPN, the Australian admits that a return to the F1 grid with Red Bull is the "fairy-tale" he dreams of.
"This for me would be like the fairy-tale," he says. "Honestly, the fairy-tale ending would be to finish my career here if I could have it all my own way.
"But we'll see," he adds. "I'll probably have to work my way up a little bit but it's really nice to be back here."
By working his way up he no doubt means a return to AlphaTauri, the team he joined (as Toro Rosso) in 2012, having made his debut the previous year with the ill-fated Hispania (HRT) team.
Following two seasons with the Faenza-based outfit he moved up to the 'big team', where he was to give Sebastian Vettel the same sort of headache the German was to receive from Charles Leclerc a couple of years later at Ferrari.
Following Vettel's departure to Maranello at the end of 2014, Ricciardo became the Austrian team's de facto Number 1, as he paired with Daniil Kvyat for that troubled first season of the hybrid era
Part-way through 2016 however, Max Verstappen entered the picture, the Dutchman winning on his debut with the Austrian team. Seeing the writing on the wall, Ricciardo left for Enstone at the end of 2018.
"I know I can come back as a more complete version of myself," he said at the weekend, aware that he needs to be back on the grid in 2024.
There has already been speculation linking him with Nyck de Vries's seat at AlphaTauri, the Dutch youngster not having the easiest of debut seasons.
However, as far as Red Bull is concerned, though Sergio Perez is hardly doing himself any favours with his current form, it was noticeable that Christian Horner was almost gushing in his praise of Alex Albon at the weekend - another driver who has been through the 'Red Bull mill'.
Asked at the weekend if he'd been impressed with the Williams driver's performance, having brought his car home seventh, Horner said: "Of course! Alex is a skilled driver, and he is doing a decent job. Personally, I’m pretty impressed with his performance this year."
Though he is no longer involved with the Red Bull organisation, the Anglo-Thai driver still has links to the Yoovidhya family that owns 51% of Red Bull in terms of sponsorship from brands the family has strong ties to in Thailand.
A return to AlphaTauri would in no way guarantee Ricciardo a move up to the big team, and looking at the current performance of the Faenza-based team his struggle would be every bit as hard as it was at Woking, but for now that may be the only option.