For Formula 1 returnee Daniel Ricciardo, the new job at AlphaTauri should only be an intermediate stop on the way to a winning team.
“It’s the dream,” said the Australian about a cockpit at Red Bull ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix (Sunday 3:00 p.m.). After a forced break of six months, the race in Budapest is now his first test. “I have to show something,” Ricciardo said of the rest of the season.
After leaving McLaren at the end of the previous season, Ricciardo was most recently a reserve driver at Red Bull. Now he will initially be “on loan” to the junior team AlphaTauri until the end of the season, replacing Nyck de Vries (Netherlands).
With strong performances, he could be recommended for Red Bull, where Sergio Pérez (Mexico) has recently come under criticism.
AlphaTauri is way off last in the team ranking, but the step is “the best way for me at the moment” and the “next hurdle,” said Ricciardo, after all, an eight-time Grand Prix winner and third in the World Championships in 2014 and 2016.
“I’m in the best shape I can be,” he said, but admitted he’s starting to rust a bit: “You’ll see me sweat.”