'Theoretically yes', Daniel Ricciardo's return to F1 with AlphaTauri not ruled out by Franz Tost

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost said that he will not rule out Daniel Ricciardo being a reserve driver for the team this season.

The Aussie is on a sabbatical from the sport after a difficult two-year stint with McLaren. Although he won a race with the British team in 2021, it was the only podium he could achieve with them. At the end of 2022, Ricciardo joined Red Bull as one of their reserve drivers for 2023.

Speaking to Motorsport-Total, Tost said:

"Theoretically yes. In practice, I hope not. There are other young drivers, like Liam Lawson, like (Dennis) Hauger, and I think that we will focus primarily on young drivers. That's part of our philosophy."

"We will always be dependent on Red Bull. Our philosophy has not changed. We will continue to train young drivers in the future. "But Formula 1 in general has changed. The field is very, very competitive now. That means when you bring in young drivers you have to do a good program with them. You have to prepare them in the best possible way."

---

"Right now, I'm not really looking at doing anything seriously or competitively" - Daniel Ricciardo

Despite many fans wishing to see him on the grid, during the Red Bull RB19 launch, Daniel Ricciardo said that he isn't too keen on racing in 2023.

As per Autosport, he said:

"I would think there would be some flexibility if I was really pushing on something that I really wanted to do. And if Red Bull would get involved, then you know, maybe it's a win-win.

"But right now, I'm not really looking at doing anything seriously or competitively. I also want that mental time off because competition is awesome, I really do love it. But it's a lot as well. And if I was to step into something else, inevitably, there would be a level of expectation, so I'd want to make sure that I could just have fun with it.

"This year is a chance for me just to take a bit more of a light-hearted approach on things and ease off, so I think if I went into something that was going to put a lot of pressure on me, I'm not sure I would actually enjoy it."

It remains to be seen if F1 fans get to see Daniel Ricciardo racing competitively anytime soon.