today, 20:25 | by Mark Hanselman
Daniel Ricciardo is eager to get back to work after an absence of six months. The Australian hopes to prove to AlphaTauri that he is still good enough for a seat at Red Bull Racing. After two disappointing years at McLaren, apart from a sensational win at Monza, Ricciardo chose to recharge his batteries. That now seems to be the case, and so he will compete again at the Hungaroring as a replacement for Nyck de Vries.
Ricciardo made his debut for HRT in 2011 and then drove for Toro Rosso for two seasons before he was allowed to make the switch to Red Bull Racing. So it has been a while since he was employed by the team from Faenza. “I’m very happy to be back,” the 34-year-old says in an preview on the Grand Prix weekend. In 2014, the Australian won the Hungarian Grand Prix in a sensational way.
The eight-time Grand Prix winner was secretly hoping for his chance. “As always with the Red Bull family, you have to be ready when you are called up, and as soon as my opportunity presented itself, I didn’t hesitate for a second. The transition to AlphaTauri went very well’, says Ricciardo. “Last week I was back in Faenza. The factory has changed quite a bit since I last raced for the team a decade ago, but there were still plenty of familiar faces and I felt at home as we prepared for the race ahead.”
Strong tire test was decisive
Last week Ricciardo came into action in a tire test for Pirelli. His impressive lap times were enough for Helmut Marko to call De Vries with the bad news. “When I drove the Red Bull in the tire test at Silverstone last week, everything felt very normal,” said Ricciardo, who will have a less competitive car at AlphaTauri. ‘The AlphaTauri car will be as it is. I’m just going to drive it and then we’ll work from there. I don’t want to have too many ideas about it beforehand. I think if the car is reasonably balanced I can work with it. It will be a challenge to get in and get off to a flying start, but I’m looking forward to it.’
“I am also looking forward to further developing the car and using my experience. When we look at the race in Budapest, the main thing is that I’m having fun, and I’m trying to use my right foot more than my left foot and I’m having a good time! The key on this track is to get into the rhythm,” said Ricciardo. “You have so many corners following each other, and if you find a good balance in the car, it’s really fun here.”
Read the article on the mobile website
Not inside
2023-07-19 18:25:00
#Ricciardo #overjoyed #foot #left #Maximum
