Daniel Ricciardo mentions getting “familiar feeling” with AlphaTauri unlike his McLaren F1 stint

Daniel Ricciardo recently stated how he got a familiar feeling in the AlphaTauri's AT04, which was absent in McLaren's MCL36 back in 2022.

The Australian had his first race in the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP after taking a short seven-month break from the F1 grid. Surprisingly, he felt quite comfortable and quick.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Daniel Ricciardo initially stated how he and McLaren tried to sort out the issues he was facing in 2022. Eventually, however, he simply understood that there was something fundamentally out of sync between him and the car. He said:

"I think even through year one at McLaren, at the summer break I learned we were probably going into too much. We needed to change the approach a little bit. It was all in everyone's best interests, trying to make it work but I felt like I've come to the realisation that wasn't working for me. We still probably did too much in hindsight, but maybe that works for another driver, so it is what it is."

Furthermore, Daniel Ricciardo explained how he instantly felt better the moment he went out on track with AlphaTauri's AT04. Though he understands that there could still be some issues that he will face, he made a brilliant first impression. He added:

"On lap one [with AlphaTauri AT04], I already felt like I was getting kind of the feedback that maybe I would expect or like, so that was important."

He further continued:

"Maybe I'll find things that I've just got to work on that don't quite correlate to my feeling, so I expect still some maybe challenges along the way. But the first impression was that it did give me a little bit more of a familiar feeling. That was also important because I was hoping to feel something like that."

The Honey Badger had to leave McLaren after the 2022 F1 season since he was struggling quite a bit. He took a seven-month break, during which he worked as a Red Bull reserve driver. When rookie Nyck de Vries was sacked by AlphaTauri due to his horrendous performance, Ricciardo got the opportunity to return to the sport.

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Yuki Tsunoda on how Daniel Ricciardo can pose a challenge to him

Yuki Tsunoda once again has a new teammate alongside him in AlphaTauri, Daniel Ricciardo. Speaking to Motorsport.com, Tsunoda stated how challenging it will be to go up against the Australian, simply because he is much more experienced and has won several races.

"It's challenging. But at the same time, I know that this current situation is completely new for me. I'm learning a lot, especially getting challenged by an experienced driver. And not only is he an experienced driver, he’s a top driver and we know that he's fast. I already know he is fast but also how he's behaving in the team is like probably the opposite as me."

Daniel Ricciardo joined the AlphaTauri for the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP and performed decently throughout the race weekend, despite being on a seven-month break from racing.