Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t driven a Formula 1 car since finishing ninth for McLaren in the 2022 Abu Dhabi finale, but recent events have shone the spotlight back on the Australian eight-time grand prix winner. As part of his role as a Red Bull reserve driver (at selected races) he recently had a seat fitting at AlphaTauri. This coincides with rookie Nyck de Vries’s tricky start to his F1 career and, should the notoriously harsh Red Bull management system swing the axe early, it’s easy to assume that it might turn to someone with 232 F1 starts under their belt. But I’m sure Ricciardo is happy with his reserve status for now, after all he’s being handsomely paid not to race in F1. In fact, there’s plenty of other Red Bull juniors who are more likely to jump into that spot, like Liam Lawson for instance, or F2’s Ayumu Iwasa. Sorry DR3 fans, I don’t expect we’ll see Ricciardo back on the F1 grid any time soon. By: Charles Bradley, Global Editor in Chief
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