One of the greatest gifts that fans of the Queen of Motorsport can receive in a competitive season is a change of drivers in the middle of the championship. Red Bull has won every race before the summer break and will probably win the rest, so every little thing that could distract us from Verstappen’s record wins is of genuine interest. So at least we remember the existence of the remaining 19 pilots.
At the same time, the case of dismissal of a rider after 10 races is special in itself, this is a completely independent news sensation. It’s doubly sensational that Daniel Ricciardo has replaced Nick de Vries at Alpha Tauri. A product of the Red Bull system who left in 2018 with ill-concealed resentment and wanting to show that he could be a historical figure anywhere else. But the fate of racing had a little laugh for Dan: in just over four years, Ricciardo landed where he began his ascent. Yes, at Renault and McLaren during this period he made an incredible amount of money, but in return he paid with the status of a top driver and the opportunity to fight for wins and podiums. But the most fun thing was the reputation of the Australian who fell from heaven to earth that allowed him in 2023 to almost lead the classification of drivers who are being paired at Red Bull to replace Sergio Pérez.
How was this made possible?
Helmut Marko and his main quality
The Austrian veteran does not need a detailed psychological analysis: every F-1 fan knows his toughness, which turns into cruelty. Therefore, we will consider only one very interesting aspect in relation to the Red Bull consultant, which directly affects the return of Ricciardo and even his chances of getting into the first team. The fact is that Helmut Marko never categorically admits his own mistakes. More precisely, he pretends that they simply do not exist. Given the scale of the Austrian leader’s personality, this is neither good nor bad, but the trend is definitely there.
In 2021, Hellmuth publicly destroyed Yuki Tsunoda during the middle of the season, right during the championship he sent him to the base in Faenza and claimed that Yuki was not ready for Formula 1. Who made the decision to put a driver without preparation in the Alpha Tauri? It is frame The responsible for the preparation of it! At the same time, not a single living soul asked the Austrian if he considered this his own mistake. Well, then the topic disappeared completely, as Tsunoda’s results stabilized, and indeed, even with such offensive arrows from Marco towards Yuki, it was the legendary consultant who was the reason why the Japanese generally got the right to act in the Queen of motoring. And he’s still acting.
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In 2023, Nick de Vries had a similar situation, but with a sad ending. Hellmuth knocked down the Formula E champion by personal decision, after a few races he traditionally began to extinguish him in the press, and then Nick simply left the team. And in a much larger sense, as if he had never been there. Everyone greeted Daniel Ricciardo, and about the already former runner, Christian Horner in a comment issued two fantastically compatible theses: “There were high hopes for de Vries” and “I just didn’t understand how he fits into our program.” Almost like a joke.”
In general, they forgot about the Dutchman after about 30 seconds, during which the management gave a wolf ticket to F-1 (partially fair), and again no one asked old Hellmuth if there was at least part of his personal responsibility. in such a disastrous situation. And here the scaling factor of personality was not without: well, who will ask the legendary Marco accusatory questions about some kind of shake-up in the junior team, which is not fighting for anything? Plus, Hellmuth brought crowd favorite Riccardo back with his bare hands!
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In 2018, after Red Bull’s double accident in Baku and the subsequent call of both drivers to the mat, Daniel finally became disillusioned with the leaders precisely as a result of a conversation with Helmut Marko. Dan later said that he considered the Austrian’s attitude towards himself very unfair against the background of Max Verstappen receiving all the “fatherly” love. Hellmuth, as always, pretended nothing had happened, all his rhetoric with Horner boiled down to Daniel’s departure coming as a huge surprise to them, and the salary at Renault probably played a role. No psychological problems of Daniel against the background of different attitudes towards him and Max! gone and gone
Dr. Marco and Christian Horner could well take revenge on the Australian for the five-year escape. Impose a ban upon his return, as Dan was very freedom-loving. To leave him until the end of his racing days to spin the simulator wheel on a team he had recently won victories with is also something of a humiliation. But he is counted on as a professional behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car. And in the future, perhaps driving a Formula 1 championship car.
It was Hellmuth’s piercing and fleeting feeling about the choice of drivers, as well as his personal and public attitude towards them, that allowed Riccardo to return to the Queen of Motorsport. The same, for which the Australian literally fled from Red Bull. All past grievances and misunderstandings were erased in the blink of an eye, because from the point of view of both sides they are meaningless: Daniel also did not portray eternal anger and smoothly returned to where he had felt uncomfortable until recently. . There, where the once equaled Max Verstappen is already running towards the third title of his career.
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Red Bull candidate
Riccardo’s return to Alpha Tauri was made possible by a surprising circumstance. According to Christian Horner, Daniel didn’t fall so much in the dirt on his face in the tire tests at Silverstone that already on lap 11, Helmut Marko called de Vries to say goodbye!
And here is a very important point: Dan did not show great results on the Red Bull car, but in fact he simply did not make a mistake after a seven-month downtime. This factor is now playing a decisive role in the talks about who should be in the first team instead of Sergio Perez: in the eyes of the public, no Nico Hulkenberg is as desirable a figure in Verstappen’s teammates as the Australian. Although the Hulk was absent for seven months, three seasons, gentlemen. Three! And he immediately he flew into space from Kevin Magnussen rolled up in points and ratings. So it’s worth acknowledging that Riccardo’s situation is not weakly romanticized; most likely they just missed Daniel as a media character. Well, we always knew that he was a great runner.
Daniel Ricardo
Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
A surprising case, but promotion to the championship car happens in every other parameter, except racing. Although with the races everything is in order. The Australian’s first qualifying after the lap caused a sensation, despite Dan leading Tsunoda at the wheel of an incomprehensible Alpha Tauri by just three thousandths of a second. Which gave rise to the idea: are these exactly the indicators by which it is generally necessary to calculate the probability of Riccardo becoming a Red Bull racer? What will the 7:4 score show us in Daniel’s favor?
Unraveling this tangle, one can come to an interesting conclusion: any result of the Australian, except for a deafening failure (the probability of which is almost zero), does not matter. The main role is played by Riccardo’s personality and the story of his relationship with the bosses of the bulls, which can be reproduced beautifully. It only remains to wait to see if this really happens.
If we take a purely sporty component, then Nico Hulkenberg deserves a place at Red Bull much more. After three years of inactivity in the middle of the current season, he overtook Magnussen and led a half-dead team to an unprecedented seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship. Millions of F1 fans would give a lot to see Niko on the podium, but somehow everything pales in comparison to the potential return of Daniel Ricciardo.
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Marco and Horner are therefore the most effective managers in F1 in terms of working with drivers: it costs them nothing to bring the team back to the one who left it without hiding disappointment and choosing expressions afterwards.
Like true mobsters, the Red Bull leaders took the prodigal son back to his homeland. But, as it must with such returns, there is one important caveat: Now they can do whatever they want with Riccardo, and he’s not going anywhere. Make him a reservist, junior and senior bull rider, brand ambassador. It is fair and unfair to criticise, to give a penny by Australian wage standards, to fire at any time. Absolutely any whim. Because right now, as a result of a perfectly even match, Hellmuth and Christian have reawakened in Daniel, 34, the desire to be on top of the world that he has long since extinguished. And for this, he will do anything.
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