“F1 feels a better place when Daniel Ricciardo is on the grid": Martin Brundle ‘pleased’ about the Aussie driver’s return to the grid

Former F1 driver and presenter Martin Brundle stated that he was delighted to see Daniel Ricciardo return to the F1 grid.

Red Bull recently announced that the Australian will be returning to the sport with AlphaTauri after the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP. Ricciardo will replace rookie Nyck de Vries, who has struggled to extract pace out of the car so far and unable to keep up with teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Discussing Daniel Ricciardo's return in a Sky Sports F1 column, Brundle wrote that he was surprised to hear the announcement. The Brit said that he thought the 34-year-old would take more time off the sport to rediscover his motivation.

"I'm really pleased to see him back, but just my honest reaction was, 'wow. Daniel's going to do that, is he?' It surprised me. Daniel's always talked about he's lost his mojo and he needs to get his enthusiasm back, and so I didn't think he'd take that, unless there's another deal that goes with it, a 'you do this and then down the road we'll do that'," he said.

The F1 commentator feels that Daniel Ricciardo must be itching to be back on the grid after months of simulator work with Red Bull. He added that F1 is only made better by the presence of Ricciardo on the grid.

"I'm sure he's had six months of sim work and not being a Formula 1 driver and that will have hit him very hard. And so I can fully understand the attraction of being one of the 20 on the grid. My overriding feeling here is Formula 1 feels a better place when Daniel Ricciardo's on the grid, and I hated seeing him having to loiter around all weekend," he added.

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Daniel Ricciardo excited to get back in F1 with AlphaTauri

Daniel Ricciardo worked with Red Bull as a reserve and simulator driver for the first half of the 2023 season before getting the opportunity to return to F1 with AlphaTauri. Speaking to the media after his Pirelli tire test on behalf of Red Bull, the Australian expressed his excitement about returning to the grid. He also shared his thoughts on the RB19 and acknowledged Red Bull team principal Christian Horner's trust in him.

"Yeah, I'm back! To get back in a car is one thing, but to get back in the Red Bull was another. And yeah, I feel like I got up to speed pretty quick. Christian [Horner] was pretty content. I think he is always been a firm believer in me," he said.

Ricciardo added that he is technically on loan to AlphaTauri till the end of the year.

"I'm stoked to go back on the grid. I'll be on loan to AlphaTauri until the end of the year. I mean, after doing the test today, of course, I feel ready and can't wait so...staying in the family," he said.

It will be interesting to see if Daniel Ricciardo will be able to prove his worth on the grid and match, if not outperform, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the rest of the 2023 F1 season.