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Red Bull is reportedly looking to trim down their junior program for next season after the hiring of Daniel Ricciardo to AlphaTauri for the remainder of the 2023 season.
Ricciardo will replace Nyck de Vries, who joined sister Red Bull at the start of the season. The Dutch driver failed to impress the Austrian team's bosses even after being shown a 'yellow card' by Helmut Marko in a bid to improve his performance.
The former Mercedes reserve driver was given four races leading up to the summer break to improve his performance against teammate Yuki Tsunoda. However, the team decided to sack de Vries just after two races and replaced him with Red Bull reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo.
As per AMUS, Red Bull wants to reduce its junior squad after the ongoing season and wants to invest in quality and promising talents. They currently have 12 drivers in their roaster, including Liam Lawson and Ayumu Iwasa, who are currently excelling in other categories.
Red Bull team boss chimes in on the return of Daniel Ricciardo
Christian Horner stated that he was happy to see Daniel Ricciardo racing competitively once again on the grid after his brief hiatus earlier in the season.
Speaking with ESPN, he said:
"It is great to see Daniel hasn't lost any form while away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his sim sessions translate on track. His times during the tyre test were extremely competitive. It was a very impressive drive, and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at Scuderia AlphaTauri."
As per F1.com, AplhaTauri's team boss added that he was looking forward to having Ricciardo in the team, adding:
"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 straight forward. The team will also profit a lot from his experience, as he is an eight-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner."
It will be interesting to see how the move to AlphaTauri pans out for the Aussie while competing against Tsunoda. Also, it will be fascinating to see if this move propels him back into contention for the seat at Red Bull in the future to partner with Max Verstappen once again after their three-year partnership previously.
