Ricciardo immediately replacing De Vries at AlphaTauri
It's Daniel Ricciardo's time ... take two.
The 34-year-old Australian is immediately replacing rookie Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri for the remainder of 2023, the team announced Tuesday.
Ricciardo was Red Bull's reserve driver this season and raced for them from 2014-18. Before that, he spent two years driving for Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri's predecessor.
"I'm stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family!" Ricciardo said in a statement.
The news comes shortly after Ricciardo served as a test driver at Silverstone, taking the RB19 around the track.
Almost done, Silverstone 🍯🦡
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 11, 2023
We’ve got Daniel driving the RB19 as part of a @pirellisport tyre test 📈 pic.twitter.com/i4n1SELiIK
Daniel Ricciardo taking the Red Bull for a spin at Silverstone today 🌪
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) July 11, 2023
(via @RichieDow90)pic.twitter.com/Wj6by2PHSz
Near the end of the 2018 campaign, as Red Bull invested more into Max Verstappen, Ricciardo decided to leave the team he'd spent seven years with and join Renault. He left the French manufacturer after two years for McLaren but struggled last year and was replaced by rookie Oscar Piastri.
Ricciardo's first F1 race since the end of the 2022 season will be the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 23. He will drive alongside AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who sits 17th in the driver standings, tied with Haas' Kevin Magnussen.
De Vries, 28, finished outside of the points in the season's first 10 races. He is one of two drivers on the grid this year without any points alongside Williams rookie Logan Sargeant.
This is the second time in recent years that Red Bull/AlphaTauri replaced a driver midseason. Pierre Gasly was demoted from the top team after 12 races in 2019 to make way for Alex Albon.