How Daniel Ricciardo 'calling the shots' at AlphaTauri helped his impressive comeback according to F1 pundit

F1 pundit Scott Mitchell-Malm recently spoke about Daniel Ricciardo's first race after returning to F1 with AlphaTauri. The Australian recently replaced rookie Nyck de Vries in the Italian team, mainly because the latter was unable to perform to Red Bull's standards. This change was made mid-season, which meant Ricciardo had to pick up the reins immediately and race at the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP.

Speaking about his race at the Hungaroring, the F1 pundit initially stated that he was quite impressed by Daniel Ricciardo's performance, especially considering his straightaway jump into an F1 car to do a full race weekend. Scott was mainly impressed by how the Australian driver came back to the grid with a different mindset. He said:

"I think this is a really good first weekend back in Formula One from Ricciardo. Don't think I've been as convinced by him. There was just a lot about this weekend that I liked. He's come into this with a slightly different attitude and approach; do it his way, make it natural, and he'll do his best to make it work by doing it that way, for better or worse."

Daniel Ricciardo had good qualifying and race sessions, where he finished ahead of his new teammate, Yuki Tsunoda. Despite the unfortunate shunt from Zhou Guanyu at the start of the race, Ricciardo was able to control the race and recover. The F1 pundit added:

"So he was chipping away at it all weekend, making progress and cashing in on opportunities to improve. I thought we did a good job in qualifying, really clean laps. The actual Grand Prix performance itself was really, really impressive because Ricciardo made the race happen for himself; that's what I really liked about it."

The Honey Badger was not shy to take control, discuss with AlphaTauri, and update his race strategy after the first pitstop, which impressed Scott even more. He concluded:

"Ricciardo basically made the call or pushed the team when he'd made it after he'd made his first pit stop to reconsider the strategy and prioritize getting him in clear air as soon as possible for as long as possible."

Daniel Ricciardo placed himself 13th in both qualifying and the race.

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Daniel Ricciardo on how Nyck de Vries is capable enough to handle setbacks

Daniel Ricciardo was delighted to return to F1 with his former team, AlphaTauri, but he was well aware of how dejected Nyck de Vries must be feeling after being sacked mid-season. As per the Telegraph, Ricciardo explained how De Vries is mature enough to understand how ruthless the sport can be at times and how he would love to see the Dutchman return to the sport one day. He said:

“Nyck is also in his late twenties and I think he is mature enough to understand the sport. As I know myself, if I just look at my last year. A year ago, I didn't think I would still be driving a Formula 1 car and now I'm here. It's about how you deal with setbacks and how you come out of it. I wish Nyck the best and if I ever see him on the Formula 1 grid again, I would be delighted.”

Right after Daniel Ricciardo's Pirelli tire tests in Silverstone, the seniors at Red Bull decided to remove Nyck de Vries from AlphaTauri and replace him with the Australian.