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Yes, he has. Daniel Ricciardo won the Hungarian F1 GP in 2014. Back in the day, Daniel had established himself among the top drivers on the grid. He was known to steal victory from the then-dominant Mercedes, and often bested his teammate and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
At the 2014 Hungarian GP, the Hungaroring track was soaked right before the race started and Daniel Ricciardo drove effortlessly while other drivers like Vettel and Lewis Hamilton were visibly struggling.
Luck favored Ricciardo with the timing of the first safety car, which allowed him to pit earlier and gain position on most of the other drivers. The Aussie brought the car home to the checkered flag at P1 after an intense battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Mercedes' Hamilton.
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He pulled off a couple of bold overtakes on Hamilton and Alonso to claim his second win of the season. On the BBC broadcast, former Red Bull Racing Driver and F1 Pundit David Coulthard said:
"That's a world champion-of-the-future move, undoubtedly."
Will Daniel Ricciardo be able to repeat history in this 2023 Hungarian F1 GP?
With Daniel Ricciardo making a comeback to the grid at the Hungarian GP, driving for Red Bull Racing's sister team Alpha Tauri, it would be interesting to see if the Honey Badger can recreate his magic from 2014.
After axing Nyck de Vries from the team for not performing since the beginning of the 2023 season, Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko pulled up Ricciardo to drive for Alpha Tauri.
Alpha Tauri team principal, Franz Tost welcomed the seasoned driver and said:
"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."
Speaking about his highly anticipated comeback, Daniel Ricciardo said:
“I’m stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family!”
Red Bull Racing and Alpha Tauri have been known for swapping drivers as they did with Pierre Gasly. If the Australian remains in formidable form in Alpha Tauri and is able to be his "old self", Red Bull has themselves a fallback option if things go south with Sergio Perez.
As for Daniel Ricciardo, he has got his much-awaited chance of sitting behind the wheel of an F1 car rather than an F1 simulator.
