Former F1 world champion finds it 'particularly interesting' that Red Bull has given Daniel Ricciardo a 2nd chance

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill recently spoke about how Daniel Ricciardo has been given a second chance by Red Bull after they offered him a seat in AlphaTauri. The Australian has replaced rookie Nyck de Vries midway through the 2023 F1 season after the latter was not able to perform to Red Bull's standards.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Hill initially explained how de Vries, despite having a great debut in F1 with Williams at the Italian GP, was not able to impress the seniors at Red Bull in his first proper season in F1.

"I'm afraid Nyck had a fantastic debut if you want to call it that, at Monza, and he was given another opportunity with AlphaTauri. But it looked like a struggle, and Helmut Marko's comments were that he was never really showing any pace or not showing the pace," he said.

Furthermore, Hill spoke about Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and how tough he usually is on drivers who are not performing well for either of the two Red Bull teams.

Marko is usually brutal and straightforward in his comments and actions as he shuffles the drivers around and only keeps those who are somewhat of an instant hit.

"Helmut Marko is the hard man of Red Bull, he's the hard man of racing, he's the guy who picks the talent; and he's the guy who literally picks up the phone and says you're out. He does not have any sentimentality about his business, and we can talk to a Christian about that because they are seen as a very tough team to be with," Hill added.

Due to this well-known system of driver changes, Damon Hill was surprised to see Daniel Ricciardo getting another chance as the Australian joined AlphaTauri.

"Lots of people have been there and failed. If so, This is why it's particularly interesting that they've decided, it seems to me, to give Danny Ricardo a second life, which is almost unheard of," Hill concluded.

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Daniel Ricciardo shares his feelings about Helmut Marko calling him for AlphaTauri seat

Daniel Ricciardo recently participated in the Pirelli tire test at Silverstone, where he drove the championship-leading RB19 F1 car. This test was more than just trying out new tires, as the seniors at Red Bull wanted to know whether Ricciardo still had the pace in him.

After he completed the test, Daniel Ricciardo received a phone call from Helmut Marko during which he spoke about the AlphaTauri opportunity.

In an exclusive interview with F1 presenter Lawrence Barretto, the Australian expressed how he initially felt when he first saw the call from Dr. Marko.

"Well... I was like, 'Okay, let's just hear what he has to say.' I think that is probably the best thing to do... sometimes, you try to prepare yourself, like, what if he asks me this, what if he... Let's just hear him out, and see what happens. Yeah, I was like, 'Okay,'" he said.

Later on, Daniel Ricciardo explained how he was ready to accept the offer since he was itching to get back into racing.