Daniel Ricciardo made a shock comeback to Formula 1 for AlphaTauri in 2023. Red Bull slotted him in for the outgoing Nyck de Vries after just 10 races of the Formula 1 season. Everyone knew the remaining races were an opportunity for Daniel to audition for the second Red Bull seat. Those chances took a hit when he got an injury at Zandvoort. After missing the next 5 races, he is finally making a comeback at the Austin GP.
Daniel Ricciardo back at the Austin GP
Daniel Ricciardo’s injury has definitely frustrated him since the summer break. However, he’ll be happy that he’s back at the Austin GP, which is admittedly his favourite event on the calendar. However, the Las Vegas GP might take that spot from this year.
The AlphaTauri driver has made a habit of lighting up the Formula 1 Austin GP weekend with amazing outfits right from his Red Bull days.
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Daniel Ricciardo reveals his “frustration”
Talking before the Austin GP, Daniel Ricciardo revealed his frustration with being sidelined due to injury. It is no secret he wanted this AlphaTauri drive to audition for a 2025 seat at Red Bull.
Therefore, losing out on 5 opportunities to do so would be frustrating. He said, “I tried it out in the week before Qatar, but I didn’t feel it was at full potential, so I spent the rest of that week in the UK, spending more time in the sim, and got to a point where I felt ready to go. My overall fitness is fine as I kept training as much as I could, although I obviously couldn’t do much with my left hand or arm for a while.
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Talking about the gap between Zandvoort and the Austin GP, he said, “It was definitely frustrating watching the past few races, especially as I’d got myself to a place where I was so ready to go again and race, and then I did two events and had to hit ‘pause’ again. But actually, the time without racing went quite quickly.”
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