What makes AlphaTauri the worst car for Ricciardo's F1 comeback

[@Kaimax61]

They don't expect Ricciardo to win with that car, they just want to see if he can push the car and Yuki, while maybe beat him in the process.

[@Spy1228]

They expect Ricciardo to help them to get out of the last place in the constructors championship.

[@aaronvanzile3824]

Exactly right. They know their car. They know they don't have a podium car let alone a race winner. A great result is getting to the final qualifying, that's their goal.

[@mikelow4374]

​@@tvsA.Shoey worthy?

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

He basically just has to do better than Nyck. 🙈 I don’t think that will be hard. Watch him randomly get a podium in Hungary. 😂😂

[@eden5260]

But Yuki is doing well and if DR doesn't do better than him his career is over

[@2011blueman]

Ricciardo's biggest selling point is that everyone likes him and he's a great team ambassador. The team has pretty much written off the season so adding Ricciardo will bring in fans and appease sponsors. If he happens to do really well then it's a bonus for red bull, but even if he does poorly the team is still better off with him there making fans and sponsors happy.

[@irishRocker1]

"eveyone likes him" is not a great selling point for an F1 driver lol Didn't they say Mick was a great guy, De vries is a nice guy. etc. etc. They arent bringing him in for likeability. if they want him to smile for media segments....they already have him doing that as a reserve driver. They are thinking of 2024/25. They have to consider and plan for if/when Merc or Ferarri get back on track. If Ferarri catches up like they did last year, they can't afford to have Perez trailing behind like he is now and lose the constructors championship again. So they need to prepare for the future, find a replacement if Perez doesn't improve. That is what this is about. Not to get a smiling puppet on stage. De vries ended up being weaker than expected and not a great benchmark to test Yuki. If Yuki can beat danny, he will be considered for a perez replacement. if he can't they could move Danny to RB. The dominance may not last forever and if Ferarri/Merc were competitive this season RB would be in trouble for the constructors. Pretty naive to think his personality has anything to do with this, and that performing well is a "bonus" lol

[@justno984]

I hope they don't give him more time just because he's "likable" if he underperforms... they didn't even think about giving the same opportunity to nyck.

[@therealquaid1694]

I don't like him. I absolutely hate him. Only 12 year old girls like him.

[@xShredsx]

​@@irishRocker1 I think the OP is mistaking likability for marketability. Danny Ricc is marketable. He sells shit, good for sponsors, good for merch, etc. F1 is also game of big wallets. Its a bonus that Alpha Tauri needs to get funding for their development. Especially considering they are bottom of the pack, they'll struggle to develop the car if they dont get massive funding. Danny Ricc will help with this....and RB is loaning him out so he gets some actual race time, to see how he performs in raves, instead of as a reserve driver.

[@gelmir7322]

His "likeable" personality wouldn't matter if couldn't give a result. We witness how he was showcased as an upbeat and positive person but then during his Mclaren stint, people started calling him a "clown" who is more busy doing comedies than racing a car.

[@nosebleedpuddle]

It will be super interesting to see how Yuki will perform against Danny. At the end of 22 Yuki was getting up to speed with Gasly and having much more time in the seat I think a race finish under his belt will do Danny some good.

[@SevenTheMisgiven]

F1 fans see and understand nothing.

[@markuss4133]

I dont think that Tsunoda stands a chance to be honest.

[@Pikachugrenin]

@@markuss4133fans are overating Ricardo tbh

[@markuss4133]

@@Pikachugrenin he was quicker than Vettel was up there with Max. Did more than ok in the Renault and then had for sure 2 bad years at McLaren, but to define him by these 2 years is laughable. He drove the Red Bull in that Pirelli Test. Afte 4 laps he was within a second of max and in the seventh he almost matched their time. So much for him being overrated.

[@themarimo3324]

@@markuss4133predicting that Ricciardo will do a McLaren

[@Asrudin]

I think Red Bull is only interested in seeing if 1) Old danny is still here and if so 2) How will he perform next to Yuki (who has improved quite a bit and has shown potential). If Danny can equal/beat Yuki, he is up for Perez's seat either next year or the year after. If Danny fails to beat/equal Yuki, we might see Yuki being promoted instead.

[@andreigeorgesco]

It would be super exciting to see Yuki in an RB.

[@alexlazenby]

👆 this. He's being tested to replace Checo if required. The Alpha car doesn't matter - what does is if her can beat Yuki and if Checo continues to fail to make Q3.

[@majikku-chan]

The year after Danny would be 37. Why even bother having dozens of junior drivers if you put a 37-year-old in your F1 car.

[@SevenTheMisgiven]

Yuki would crash in testing and the team would drop him in 10 races.

[@alpenjon]

The level of overestimation of Ric... The #2 spot at RB is probably the most attractive seat right now, if you regard the team climate/ethos, at least. It taunts Lando, Leclerc etc. - many young and great drivers. That Danny would get that spot (that he even snubbed a few years ago) is just pure fantasy.

[@whassupg89]

It’s obviously a risk for Ricc to come back like this but if he didn’t gamble he was never getting another shot. Fingers crossed for him

[@hondaslex]

Not really a risk for him. As Red Bull wants him to get back in a car to be fit for 2024. The days of Perez are counted. There could even be a change between RIC and PER late this season. If PER does not deliver they can easily swap both drivers. In F1 everything can happen.

[@212something]

Lmao he just sealed this career with this move, so I wouldn’t hold my breath. Why would redbull give him the second seat when, McLaren forced him to give up his seat for a ROOKIE?! Lmao you Ricardo fans are so delusional. 😂🤡

[@soundscape26]

@@hondaslex I think Checo is safe at least till the end of the season. Why swap them and potentially lose Checo's P2 in the standings?

[@TiagoAzevedo]

@@soundscape26Checo might lose it himself and without any help.

[@ChrisBl33p]

@@TiagoAzevedo he did it to himself last season. He could again.

[@TheSFMCreators]

I’m very interested in the upcoming dynamic between Ricciardo and Tsunoda. De Vries was supposed to be the older, more experienced driver of the duo in the beginning. However Nyck’s lack of experience in F1 (despite his vast experience in other racing disciplines) saw him struggling to keep up with Yuki, with Tsunoda taking the top spot as the No.1 driver. Now with Ricciardo, we have another older, and vastly experienced F1 driver lining up next to Tsunoda. It will be interesting to see how Tsunoda deals with this and if it will lead to friction in the team

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

Honestly Red Bull must be thinking DR is a safe bet. They sacked De Vries on the spot as he was testing

[@rileyfair5]

Actually Yuki was that guy for the team not nick. Nick should have gone to Williams in my opinion. Unless you're redbulls golden boys you won't be treated fairly. He made a huge mistake going to a redbull team

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

It might sound strange, but it does seem like if you’re the type of driver who needs an arm around the shoulder and a bit of space to work, then Red Bull and Alpha Tauri seem like really toxic environments. By contrast, I remember David Coulthard called Williams, “A big, cuddly team” because it was family owned and run it had a lot of humanity behind it (and bear in mind, he raced for Williams in 94/95 when they were gunning for titles.)

[@MrSniperfox29]

@@rileyfair5 Nyck had no choice in the matter because Williams didn't actually want him. They had a short list of 1) Logan 2) the Mick 3) NDV. It was AT or no drive at all.

[@Fiasco3]

Yuki and Danny, together is the best F1 comedy sitcom you can write. I think apart from the rivals thing they are going to vibe each other they are both cool dudes.

[@frankbieser]

Considering DannyRic has a Monaco win. I was kind of hoping he'd leave F1 and go after the triple crown. That would put him in some rarified air.

[@purwantiallan5089]

Ricciardo still better than Leclerc in Monaco.

[@evoo8214]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If Ricci didn't like the McLaren brakes he will not get on well with the AT04 brakes either. Neither Nyck nor Yuki liked the brakes, Yuki even complained about how terrible they are on the radio in his usual "enthusiastic" fashion. If you look at the Silverstone onboards of the two drivers you will see how terrible the braking performance is relative to others on the track. As such, they were absolutely incapable of going fast and also completely unable to defend as they simply got out braked anywhere. But I truly hope I am wrong and that the Honey Badger will surpass any and all expectations of mine

[@danny7694]

The thing is, he'll bring key developing feedback to the team. If they have an open mind about his performance this year it might just help them to build a better car next year. He's had a good amount of hours on the red bull sim now and knows where the Achilles heel of these ground effect cars is and can probably relay it just as well as any other veteran on the grid. I think this is an important move for the near future of alfa tauri but all is in the air, lets just hope he's not as washed as that mclaren made him look..

[@chrisewins836]

@@danny7694I’m 100% of the same mind as you mate. I think this is as much a move to get experienced feedback for the AT team to improve their car as it is to see where Danny Ric is after 6 months off. That being said, if Checo doesn’t bag 2nd in the drivers’ championship comfortably he should be worried about his future.

[@cordaveast]

Bad take, Daniel didn’t have problems with the brakes. He had an issue with the unpredictable nature of the McL corner to corner and lap to lap. Lando put it best, you can drive the car a certain way on one lap and then not be able to do it in the very same corner on the next lap.

[@evoo8214]

@@cordaveast That also. But he did have a massive problem with braking.

[@The666opal111]

Interesting observation. sodaHmm

[@JamaicanMeCrazy]

The reality is he doesn't need to win he just needs to beat yuki And if he can't do that, he probably doesn't deserve to be back anyway as much as we love his personality it doesn't reduce lap times.

[@CatTrashRacing]

Nor will a shit car that doesn’t suit him… he was still good in Renault but mclaren was ass

[@HaydenLau.]

​@@CatTrashRacing A good driver can drive fast in one car. A great driver will drive fast in any car. Just ask Alonso

[@Bambeakz]

He will fail at that for sure

[@timjohnun4297]

@@HaydenLau. A good driver adapts to the car, a great driver has the car adapted to them

[@HaydenLau.]

@@timjohnun4297 Every driver asks for changes to the car. From Nikita Mazepin to Aryton Senna. That's not the mark of anything.

[@Alcatraz760]

The only thing RB is looking for is to see if the Danny they got during the test and sim sessions can be sustained over a season. I think RB knows Danny suits the main RB cars more than any car on the grid.

[@johncnorris]

I think RBR is also looking for a way to cut Yuki. If Danny-Ric easily beats him they won't have to justify it with Honda. If Yuki beats Danny they can justify replacing Checo with him a couple years from now.

[@cheesyriceo4]

Yukis seat is locked under Honda power

[@formulablaze91]

​@@cheesyriceo4what Honda power. It's technically RBPT now and Ford who are gonna supply Redbull in the future. Honda basically have 0 relation to Redbull now aside from the few Honda employees that shifted to RBPT

[@sh-spectrum409]

Danny Ric definitely won’t score points in Hungary unless something crazy happens like rain, but I think the more important detail is if he starts beating Yuki immediately and by what type of margins.

[@Boomer19771]

I disagree. I think 8th to 10th is a def chance.

[@irishRocker1]

@@Boomer19771 8th a def chance despite the highest place so far being 9th before penalties were applied lol sure. Use some logic please

[@Boomer19771]

@@irishRocker1 you are talking about 2 drivers who has no more than 4 years driving experience between them. While I don't think the car is where it needs to be I also believe that has a lot to do with the inexperience of the 2 drivers and its not as much of a disaster as most think . Gasly finished 12th last year. There is no reason why a rejuvenated DR can't go 2 places better. Does he need a little luck...sure. so before you start throwing around logic. Maybe be careful what logic you actually know....

[@gelmir7322]

top ten is pretty crowded this season. Unless something really bad happens, Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Alonso are consistent top ten finishers so already that means 7 spots in the top ten. Mclaren is getting stronger right now (though Hungary might be a weakness for them) so another 2 spots Albon is a regular point scorer from the last several races. And Lance might have a chance to finish on the tops as Aston Martin is good at tracks with slow corners. Then you have the Alpines which is considered as top ten contenders if it weren't for their rotten luck. Yuki received praise because he was always at the tail end fighting for the last scoring position. Though in many situations he lost the bid because Alpha Tauri car is just so trash that it would spawn issues during races.

[@bhendrikabel]

Yuki will be faster. Ric isn’t the best in technical feed back and adjusting his driving style. He will fail. End of his F1 career

[@sulphurous2656]

Even if things go well, it won't change the fact that he's 34 years old now and has given up 6 years of being in a reliably competitive car to chase the empty promises of other teams.

[@purwantiallan5089]

What if Rise Kujikawa joined RedBull instead of Tsunoda?

[@rhyansanpedro]

How i wish he never left Renault, I still believe that he's got speed under him.

[@Aramis444]

Leaving Renault was the worst thing he did for his career. He was just starting to get somewhere in that car when he left, and I think he would have done well if he stayed.

[@TheOneWhoMightBe]

@@Aramis444 Nah, leaving RBR was the worst thing he did. Renault is a distant second. To be fair, I would have been pretty sketchy about the Honda engine at the time, but it's proved its worth.

[@ua697]

@@TheOneWhoMightBe Yeah, DR knew all about the superior reliability of the Renault PU before the left RB 😂

[@soundscape26]

@@Aramis444 McLaren had been a comfortable P4 in the standings the season before... at the time everybody thought it was a good move, but hindsight is always 20/20.

[@TheOneWhoMightBe]

@@ua697 The reliability (or otherwise) ofvthe Renault PU was a known quantity at the time, while the Hondas was much less so given it was still being developed for new chassis post-mclaren. Devil you know, maybe.

[@HDB1974]

Can somebody just remind me, because my memory is a bit cloudy on this but didn't Danny Ricc dismiss this seat outright when he was linked with it during the closed season or did I imagine it?

[@Zero41sv]

He did, but I suspect his agent has worked out the obvious. Which is, his career - as it was - is over and isn't coming back. So it's either take the seat on offer, or go away.

[@USSBGATHOO]

I think a degree of this signing is to simply get more spectators watching Alpha Tauri for marketing purposes

[@Uno.Numero]

As long as he's on the grid is way better than not being on it. I think if he's as quick as Yuki he'll be okay. I still feel he's being race conditioned to switch with Perez who should not finish races where he's been finishing. The distance to Max is staggering and in my opinion Redbull is just getting their options ready by race conditioning Danny, for I feel they've seen something in Danny in their Silverstone Test and no I'm not talking about being served coffee by the Iconic Sebastian Vettel.

[@Redlingstein]

I agree!

[@BeckerFlag]

Still shake my head every time I'm reminded, he left Red Bull in 2019. 4+ years of problems all started with that very bad career choice.

[@Zero41sv]

Hindsight is 20/20, but at the time he made the right call. He wanted to try for the title, Red Bull were not going to support him. So either resign yourself to being effectively a second driver, or take a risk and try and lead another team to the title. He didn't give Renault anywhere near as long as they'd need, so he perhaps jumped without as much thought as the problem called for, but the logic at the time makes sense.

[@akorthouwer]

hmm he performed well at renault dont think he was at mclaren for 4+ years

[@dansgarage4572]

@@Zero41svHe wasn’t good enough for the title

[@Zero41sv]

@@dansgarage4572 perhaps not, but what's the point of reaching the top level if you don't at least genuinely try? I'm sure we don't want a grid full of drivers merely happy to never push to be more than a number 2 driver. Trying doesn't mean you succeed, but at least you went for it.

[@billB101]

Now he's the RB junior.

[@wezob4569]

All i could think about is what if he had the balls to stay and never leave RB for an inferior team? He'd have never lost his confidence and been in this situation! The lesson? The grass isn't always greener on the other side.

[@BarbaricAvatar]

Except Daniel's not there to prove himself, he's there to give Red Bull a chance to see if Tsunoda can deal with the pressure of a quicker team mate. Plus whether or not such pressure will cause Yuki to be at his best in every race instead of just some. There aren't going to be any miracles because the car's not up to it.

[@downskated]

I've maintained they want a baseline to compare Yuki to and an experienced driver to help Alphatauri where they really need to put the effort in because don't forget the principal doesn't trust the engineers anymore.

[@greatscot04]

I think people are underplaying a huge reason for signing Danny Ric. They need him to help develop their car. He's the only driver on their roster who has been in a winning car and can tell what's truly wrong with the AT.

[@irishRocker1]

@@greatscot04 I think the goal is more as downskated said, benchmark and see who is fit for 2nd RB seat cos when Ferarri/Merc are competitive again, they cant afford to have Perez going the way he is now and need options. Constructors title would be at risk if they were competitive this season.

[@digitalgulby]

I don’t think this story is going to play out the way Danny is hoping

[@Zero41sv]

Nor do I. Tbh, I think his career has been over, meaningfully, for over a year now. This isn't going to fix it.

[@AshwinRamdin]

Driving for Alpha Tauri will permanently end his F1 carreer. No coming back from that.

[@nopenope843]

He's one of the best drivers on the grid, I don't think your comments will age well

[@Zero41sv]

@@nopenope843 He can be, for sure. But, then there was a time when Grosjean was ready to lead Lotus and was regularly picking up podiums. F1 has never really been about raw talent. It requires a thousand things to all align and driver talent is only one of them. Alonso's career is the obvious example there. I don't think anyone is really sure what's brought on the bad run of form at McLaren, but it's entirely possible that recent changes to the formula impact him more than others. Like how Vettel was slapped by the new formula in 2014, he didn't suddenly stop being a world championship level driver.. but he also didn't really fully recover for any prolonged period. The problem Danny has is that he costs a lot more money than the alternatives, comes with less sponsorship than the likes of Perez and you're only as good as your last race. He's also 34, which in the grand scheme of things is young but in F1, it just isn't. At that age, people and teams feel they know what there is to know about you as a driver and teams are increasingly focussed on finding who comes next - and that's not gonna be Danny.

[@CadMade95]

​@benmckinlaywilliamson3394 guess we will see if this comment ages like fine wine or spoils like milk😂😂

[@NexuJin]

I dream of Daniel overtaking Oscar on-track on merit in that godawful AlphaTauri, then the television director switches to a close-up of the face of Zak Brown.

[@quentinhirschfeld9382]

Never gonna happen.

[@andrigtmiller]

It will be interesting to see how well he does in the AlphaTauri. It may have all the same issues that Mclaren had, and if so, he may end up being just as lost with getting the most out of the car. If that happens then he will regret being back on the grid in this particular car.

[@therig1339]

Yuki is consistent in that AT04 so Daniel will have to drive well to beat him. They are both a good benchmark for each other 😂

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

Consistently 16th

[@SamuelSantos_]

@@Duval-In-The-WallPretty hard to finish higher than that with AT’s current state

[@rushankuma]

What I don't want to see is everyone overhyped Ric's return. Last time we were overhyped was Hulk's return in Lance' absence (2020?). People thought Hulk gonna be on the podium with 4th fastest car. Let's give some time to Ric now.

[@gasoowannab]

Media already setting Daniel up to fail...It was never said that Daniel is gonna get a win in the car. He's a measuring stick for Yuki and the Alpha Tauri car.

[@ayeeeitskev]

no ones saying hes gonna win mate what are you on about???

[@brianrasmussen2956]

Will be interesting to see if AT can actually tune their car to fit Ricciardo. They failed to do it for DeVries.

[@pumpkineder]

Not disputing Norris was significantly better than Ricciardo at McLaren but funny to use a video of Norris having a massive lockup to describe Ricciardo struggling in the corners

[@dnanirudh]

I don’t think it’s too much of an issue for ricciardo. One of his biggest problems at mclaren was that his confidence was shattered and he lost faith and love with himself and the sport. His time at RB along with the test at silverstone has given him confidence that he still has his talent. He’s also driven the sim at AT and is going in with all the lessons learned from his time at mclaren. Mclaren themselves said that it was more damaging for Daniel to adapt to the car than to just drive as he normally does. He will be fine.

[@Spazum888]

Danny has nothing to lose. He already got MILLIONS for leaving F1, had a mini vacation, and now back. Yuki is p17 in the standings right now so Danny doesnt have to try too hard to get ahead of Yuki. Unfortunately, Team AT isnt at their best. Danny got great times during tire testing, but jumping into one of the worst cars on the grid might not translate. I wish nothing but the best for him, love seeing him on the grid, and think f1 is generally better with him around.

[@Angry_Squirrel555]

There’s no expectations that Ricciardo will even be in the points the next two races. He’s there to get seat time and help AlphaTauri determine what needs to be fixed. The Hungaroring and Spa are very different tracks so this is the perfect back to back for him to figure out the car.

[@ezpz4659]

I hate F1, honestly, I love Spec racing. Everyone in the same car type thing, but I don't think Ricciardo cares if he is in the worst car on the grid or whatever this year, because he is joining half way through, and I think he just wants to be back on the track.

[@johncnorris]

I'm not sure if Danny-Ric will ever be the same racer he used to be but it's a brilliant PR move by Red Bull Racing.

[@julianz7450]

The fact that the car is slow doesn’t mean that it’s difficult to drive. As Ricciardo himself said: if the balance is alright, he can work with that. Certainly the AT04 is no Williams FW42 or Ferrari F14 T. It could have been much, much worse…

[@e2rqey]

that's literally like the first point they covered and countered in the video

[@myoldreteacher]

I wonder if this is a development issue? Devries is out because Riccardo will have more of an impact on the development of the 2024 car and beyond. Devries lacks the experience in F1 and therefore technical feedback, and so this early season switch reflects that.

[@e2rqey]

Danny Ric strikes me as one of, if not, the most "instinctive" on the grid when it comes to driving style and learning a car. I'm sure he gets a lot of information about the technical side and the physics of driving from his engineers and other staff, but not to be offensive, he hasn't seemed like the type where that would really do him any good. It might actually end up just making him completely overthink driving and further damage his ability to extract pace. Also for a primarily "feel/instictive/reactive" driver like Danny Ric, rear-end instability late into corner entry is one of the worst characteristics to deal with. As the ability to be extremely confident under breaking/turn in was central to his driving style when he was at his best in F1. Compare that to someone like Sebastian Vettle, who arguably is one of the most intelligent drivers to ever race in F1, and who likely understands the technical/physics of driving at a level comparable to those developing the car itself, if not better in certain areas. That being said, I still think it would be possible for Danny Ric to learn how to extract the maximum pace from a car that doesn't fit his driving style, but I think it would take him considerably longer than others. Hopefully he's spent a lot of time during his season off from F1, working on improving the weaknesses in his driving that were exposed by the McLaren, and also his ability to adapt his driving style. I'd imagine/hope he's been in the Red Bull/AT simulator a ton and really put in the work to have a grand redemption arc. It would be a shame for him to come all this way, get this opportunity, and blow it due to the exact same sort of weaknesses in his driving style/adaptability. If that's what ends up happening, it's 100% on him. For what it's worth I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in the rest of this season. If nothing else, it will at least add a new interesting narrative to a season that's desperate for excitement!

[@TheAmazingCowpig]

Yeah, I've seen people point this out before. The most adaptable and fast drivers are the intelligent ones who really get into how their car works, and can understand how they have to adapt. Not just that, but having a technical approach to the car means such a driver can give very valuable, clearer feedback to the engineers, which can be a positive feedback loop into getting the car better.

[@vercingetorix5708]

Riccardo will benefit Yuki. Daniel was a great moderating force for max and really helped calm him down. Yuki needs that.

[@aja4191]

If Daniel doesn't score a point for rest of the season & average grid position same as Nick. How good is Daniel really?

[@kainagami]

I find it amazing how McLaren after all the driver complaining its car is so tricky to drive and still builds it that way regardless

[@Switll72]

Mate that RB of 2018-2021 was real tricky to drive but they build it that way so they could beat Merc in the corners. That's the reason all drivers but Max struggled, People saying they build the car for Max was nonsense, Max was just able to handle the car better than everyone and that made him fast. Point is we see these cars race round a track weekends at 300km/h and it looks simple when in reality the average person wont be able to drive a F1 car as its unbelievably difficult to drive quickly, and some cars (Just like road cars) are temperamental to drive, the difference is some drivers can handle it some cant.

[@jademoyles2470]

The battle between Dan and Yuki this race is gonna be more exciting then who's driving out in front.

[@KMcKaig72]

Well Danny and Yuki will be comedy gold if nothing else.

[@bornresaabe]

Red Bull will just want Daniel to jump in the AT and drive the thing fast in his own way. At Mclaren he did his head in trying to drive it the way Mclaren wanted him to drive it, forcing him to change his whole driving style. Just jump in the thing and drive fast. I have a good feeling we are about to see the old Daniel back again, maybe the best has yet to be seen from him.

[@1stkeyhomebuyers]

Doubt it… I don’t think the AT car handles anything like the RB car. He will need to do a whole new process of adaptation and he’s proved that’s not his best skill set.. that being said I hope it’s not far off from his natural style and he’s able to find speed again

[@brycedubois3023]

Mystery to me that AT, being RBs junior team, don't have a car closer to the RB19. I understand there are rules about 'sharing' but if others can copy RB... why is the AT not the best 'copy'? Fingers' crossed for Danny. Nyck was absolutely no mug so it's most unlikely he'll be storming up the grid. Getting in front of Yuki will be a challenge.

[@Switll72]

They moving the At factory to England and rebranding the team and it was confirmed they are going to share more parts. Next Years AT will be what AM/McLaren is to Merc and much closer to a RB.

[@ayeeeitskev]

they chose not to take all of the shared parts to differentiate themselves when they changed from TR to AT, they were stuck in RB's shadow and wanted to catch up, it didnt work and now theyre going back to sharing more parts in next years rebrand

[@8bits955]

Horner mentioned that Nyck was told he is getting the boot at lap 11 during the testing

[@robertvanzant2653]

Most of his wins he lucked into them , hes a good driver but downturns like has had are a bad sign , as a team owner he cannot be trusted , and hes a bit run away type of character.

[@camf7522]

3:51 also, Lando hasn’t had the privilege of driving another car. He only found out last week what a good car feels like, a car that Danny Ric’s feed back would have helped develop.

[@KevinHwoarang]

The title had me going: "YEAH, YEAH, that's exactly what my thoughts were".

[@robertf4540]

I doubt if Riccardo will be successful in a subpar car like that. They just want him to get laps in so they can move him over to Red Bull after they kick Checo to the curb.

[@minormist]

Christian Horner made a vague reference in the F1 podcast to Ricciardo’s working relationship with his McLaren engineer, suggesting team feedback was as much an issue as the car itself. Hopefully AT provides better feedback to their drivers.

[@benjamindort9707]

The main reason for the move, was Alpha Toro had 2 inexperienced drivers, part of the reason for the decline of their performance from the year prior. Riccardo is to provide more accurate technical feedback , through his greater experience against his experience (& time in 4 other teams) to help correct & improve thier future development; both this year & more importantly next. Having already invested time in Snoda, having made the 'new guy' devries the one to be released to make room

[@kevinsloane5105]

Who’s here after he got p4 in Mexico qualifying

[@chicobicalho5621]

In the world of F1, we tend to evaluate drivers by comparison. DR got his claim to fame for mincing Vettel's ass in 2014, and for holding his end to a 18 year old kid until no more, so he left RBR. After 57 years following this category, I have have learned to be objective while comparing two drivers in a competitive team (Fittipaldi/Peterson, Villeneuve/Pironi, Lauda/Prost, Piquet/Mansell, Senna/Prost, Mansell/Prost, Alonso/Hamilton). Vettel struggled with Webber in 2010 until RB chose to embrace him, and even then, in 2012 he struggled against Alonso in a clearly inferior Ferrari. Then in 2014 Danny beat him fair and square. Against a semi retired Räikkönen, SV was marginally superior, but, again, Leclerc was clearly the better driver after that. This is to say, it is hard to evaluate how good Danny Ricciardo really is, but, if by any chance Tsunoda but matches him, I believe it will be the kiss of death for his carreer. And, at this point, I can't imagine old Yuki isn't pumped, and on Ninja mode. Can't wait to find out.

[@quentinhirschfeld9382]

Evaluating drivers by comparison only gives you part of the picture! You could clearly saw that a guy like Max was special even at Toro Rosso against Sainz (even though they er pretty even in terms of raw pace-, he had shorter corners, softer input and superior race-craft, also showed tremendous feel for the surface of the road in the rain.

[@munaclassic4020]

The way you describe this seems to be how he likes it. From his redbull days he enjoyed a oversteering car and maclaren was an understeering car.

[@girobikeOG]

I’m sure that there are mutual performance clauses for driver and team. If Perez underperforms, he will be shown the door. It depends on the trigger points in the contracts, e.g. time deltas, qualifications, positions in races etc. however they are set up. I’m sure they apply to all Redbull drivers.

[@chrisroberts8355]

He needs to stop messing around so much and get his head down he has been given a second chance and you don't get to many of them in f1

[@philb8437]

Really can't wait to see how he will do in that car. I hope it goes better than at McLaren !

[@TheOneWhoMightBe]

I can't imagine Red Bull chucking DR into the AT without him proving he could drive it in the simulator first. Plus in 2024 AT will be using every RBR part they legally can, which would ease the transition to the top team if Perez gets the boot.

[@Ariespradana13]

starting next year, Red Bull should not be stingy in sharing parts with its B team. it would be interesting if team B had similar strength to the main team. 👌

[@Zero41sv]

F1 is a bit weird like that. TR used to run RB cars, Haas have their setup and many years ago, Sauber got a very competitive year old Ferrari to play with. In all cases, the teams cannot develop the car well nor run it to its maximum. At the time, part of the reason AT moves away from Red Bull was because Marko had eaten every worthwhile rookie for a thousand miles and so the idea of it being a team to develop young drivers because frankly laughable. And running someone else's design rarely, if ever, makes and F1 team competetive. So they had to go back to being a full constructor to save face.. only their engineers haven't delivered and so now money is back in play as a factor. But it just seems that teams who don't design and build their own cars simply can't compete well over prolonged periods in a season.

[@notafakeaccount1382]

They want yuki to red bull but need ricciardo as a benchmark. He'll do worse than de vries.

[@ElectricIro]

I love Ricciardo, but I feel he is a bit weak in the mental game and has made only bad career choices in the last few years. When things get complicated, it feels like he is giving up. (going from red bull to Renault, taking a year break in a world where places are extremely limited after a difficult season...). I hope he proves he has his place, but I personally wouldn't have given him a 2nd chance despite loving his personality on the grid.

[@markbrooker2618]

De vries was brilliant when stepping in as a backup driver which is why he got the alpha tauri seat in the first place. The car is just a boat. Yuki is a talented young driver and has a couple of years getting used to the car. I cant see Danny being any better than Nyck. Its not like Danny was any good at mclaren which was a bad car but its still better than the alpha. I did find it weird how he went to alpha tauri and not Williams.

[@MDE_never_dies]

Nyck was unfairly dropped, Danny will do no better.

[@ZZPxFTW]

He didn't go to alpha tauri instead of williams. A williams seat was never open. He signed a backup contract with redbull... Redbull saw the performance of devries, knew they had danny in their back pocket, and put ricciardo in the seat. Surely with the ultimatum of if he does well, the redbull #2 seat is an option next year. If helmut is willing to yoink devries for his performance, you can only imagine how he's looking at perez right now. Ricciardo wouldn't have taken the alpha tauri seat if that wasn't an option

[@brabhamoz6863]

I'm thinking he'll hang around the 12th place sort of area with a few point finishes here and there. I'm guessing he'll have 2 tenths on Yuki after the summer break. Yuki should have an advantage on him in the first race or 2

[@MrVirusjaeger]

This might be a test for Yuki too. If he can stay in front of Ric for 23 and 24 season, then we might see him in the red bull.

[@backjarton01]

Hyped to see Danny back - He only has to perform as well as Tsunoda and wait for Helmut to remember who he is and sack Perez.

[@Bambeakz]

Only .. man some people underestimate Yuki

[@garymartin9777]

Tsunoda has two points this season. Two.

[@raphwalker9123]

Ricardo couldnt even drive a decent McLaren he has no chance in this shitbox

[@Bambeakz]

@@garymartin9777 So compared to last year could it be the car or Yuki? 🤔 🤦‍♂️ Edit : To make it even more clear. De Vries is a Formule E and 2 champ and had a great debut as replacement driver and could show nothing with this car. So is your solution to this calling both drivers incapable?

[@SpeedKillersGaming]

Perez right now >> daniel right now

[@alxpluto]

I think it'll go well for two reasons, one the fact that he seems to have this newfound confidence at red bull (for various reasons) and two because the pressure of driving alpha tauri is much less then the pressures at McLaren

[@flat-out]

This is what you'll hear on the radio at SkyF1 race weekends in upcoming races...."Daniel, we didn't make past Q1 it's P18 mate" - Daniel: "Sorry guys, I gave it all I got I can't get faster"(still smiling under the helmet. I like Daniel though, I want him to succeed.

[@kellarcheron6675]

Daniel's huge marketability makes it financially logical to develop the car in a direction that suits his style. They create a comeback story line and capitalize on it. Daniel has been testing/developing in the sim and this swap comes after an announcement that there will be more sharing between Alpha Tauri/Red Bull. Contemporary F1 is a rich boys country club, drivers like Jim Clark and Gilles Villeneuve wouldn't be allowed through the gate, let alone the door, it is not about skill

[@s_t_r_a_y_e_d]

Happy to see Danny back but this does feel like an ultimatum no matter how you slice it. This is his LAST chance.

[@aucklandy4221]

I love this form of content, I've been getting into Formula 1 and your videos have been extremely entertaining and informative, thank you and keep it up!

[@deweberis2709]

Will the lightning strike twice ? 🤔 Hold an iron lance in a hill alongside a tempest and you will know the answer 😂

[@etiennec8139]

It's a win-win for RB, or rather a no-loss. Either DR performs well in the AT and is able to bring some feedback to improve the car Or he doesn't, and there's nothing to lose from the sporting point of view, it might give a little more visibility to the sponsor. So yeah

[@deaks25]

I seem to remember that one of Ricciardo's more consistent complaints the whole time he was at McLaren was the brakes and that they never gave him the confidence he needed, which he did admit was a problem for him not being able to adapt as much as the cars brakes not giving him what he needed. It's why his famous heroic-late-braking lunges disappeared from his driving; he never felt able to brake as late as he knew he should be able to. I'm not sure of the specifics, whether it was the pads, the design of the hydraulics or how feedback was communicated through the steering, but presumably the Alpha Tauri will have a more familiar system.

[@1stkeyhomebuyers]

What I don’t understand is how brakes aren’t 100% sorted on every car by now. It’s a simple system with similar materials and function. Feel, temps, pressures ect should be sorted with even the small budget teams. That’s weird that they even have to think about about the brakes.

[@wazzlopiok240]

I’ve never bought any f1 merch due to the absurdly high prices, but if riciardo joined Bottas at Alfa Romeo I might even buy a whole damn car

[@joachimbambury6376]

I’m so so happy to see Danny ric back. Been loving the hype videos of him recently

[@milesj6064]

Every team wants to have the best drivers in their car, and since it is a competitive sport on the track and in the development centers, if you feel one person can make a difference then you take the chance based on past experience. I am sure if Daniel was able to put in a competitive lap time to Max at Silverstone during the tire test, then if the Alpha Tauri is close to the same style of setup as Red bull then it is encouraging that he will be able to get up to speed quicker, and possibly raise his stock around the paddock.

[@purchville]

Thankfully, James Key had nothing to do with the design of the Alpha Tauri. His absence goes some way in explaining McLaren’s resurgence IMO

[@nioinsane]

I'll just ping my own comment at the end of the season. Mclaren 2.0, DN can't adapt well enough. His days at RB where driving a dominant car with his driving style matching the car😅 an example of this is his days at Renault, he developed/adapted the car to his style, not the other way around

[@EchoSigma6]

Even if Danny does not do well in the remaining season his career isn’t over. He’s got one more chance to prove himself. All things come to an end, DR has already lived the dream.

[@AudreyH48]

Love Danny Ric, but I'll say it, he's not going to do well enough in the A.T. chassis. That's my prediction. I hope I'm wrong honestly.

[@marcushillerstrom25]

Why don't they borrow some concepts from Red Bull to make the car a bit faster?

[@Zero41sv]

Sadly, it never seems to work well in practice. There's a few examples from recent decades, but essentially, it's a great way to save money but it never adds consistent gains in performance. Teams seem to struggle to run and develop cars they didn't design and build in-house.

[@marcushillerstrom25]

@@Zero41sv Yeah, I know it would be hard during the season, but why don't they work more closely together and build more similar cars between seasons?

[@Zero41sv]

@@marcushillerstrom25 The rules put some restriction on that. I mean, I'm with you, it seems a no brainer. At the very least it saves costs. I think when they destroyed every young driver that came near them and having two perennial rejects in their cars a few years back meant they couldn't be the 'junior team' any more and had to move to being a sister team, which meant independent and at least trying to be competitive in their own right. They seek to be moving toward what you suggest for next year so that could be interesting.

[@marcushillerstrom25]

@@Zero41sv Yeah, I guess the rules could be a problem. But still, I guess they buy every part from Red Bull that they can? Just send some instructions with the parts on how they best should be used 😂 No, but I see what you mean. But it's so strange that they differ so much every year. Some years they are quite good and others they have a really hard time scoring any points at all.

[@biggallcaps]

All I can say is I hope he proves me wrong. I think he's going to fail to impress in the terrible Alpha Tauri and I doubt they will think he is more capable than Perez, but if they do he will still not succeed beside Verstappen

[@TheCallouscal]

Tbh it keeps some of the pressure off him as nobody will be expecting wins from him in an Alpha Tauri, maybe some low points finishes. It'll be more about his performance vs Yuki

[@fsconsultantcy2559]

Its a legal way to get technical info from rb to at he will be looked after

[@ThunderApache]

It’s not about the problem, rather than it is about how a driver circumnavigates the problem. Even though the past McLaren was unsuitable to Ricciardo, the way he was coached to deal with the problem led to loss in his own confidence. In case of the Alpha, I am sure Red Bull will provide him necessary support, more crucially in the right way, that will provide him the necessary confidence he needs to deal with an uncompetitive car, better.

[@F1-Passion]

Won’t the alpha tauri have more similar concepts to RB than any other car tho? I mean I know obv it’s not a RB

[@TheEj1313]

Some shared physical components but vastly different handling characteristics

[@F1-Passion]

@@TheEj1313 but that can be changed pretty quick tho bro can’t it not?

[@e2rqey]

@@F1-Passion Short answer: No. Long answer: If it's handling characteristics were that easy to change and/or it was that similar to the Red Bull. It wouldn't currently be considered the second slowest car on the grid in terms of single lap pace. And Alpha Tauri wouldn't be in last place in the constructors championship with only 2 points in 10 race weekends.

[@snowiblind]

haas takes more parts from Ferrari than alphatauri takes from red bull

[@F1-Passion]

@@snowiblind how is that relevant 😂?

[@babygotback85]

Is DR more likely to keep the car on track than Yuki? Maybe his xp will help him get better results than Yuki. Although, Yuki has been better this season.

[@dennisthewalker]

I really hope he'll do well in Alpha Tauri. This is his last chance to get back in the game. If he cannot beat yuki, this might be the end for him

[@roberthoward9500]

Ricciardo's problem was the front end with the McLaren as it wasn't pointy enough. Rear instability won't bother him as much.

[@timceban9786]

I think this might seem like a confusing move considering how bad the car is in 2023….but the AT will be more closer to the RB in 2024 as it will be incorporating more RB parts next season. I am convinced that we will see better form from him next year, but I wouldn’t write him off for this year either.

[@carguy_rz]

I wonder why they aren't doing it like Haas and buy every part they can from RB...

[@Fiasco3]

Well when you actually sit down and think about it, he has essentially driven that car before when he started his career. Alpha Tauri will most likely have a better idea how to setup the car to suit his driving style. So apart from being a slower car is it the worst ? Probably not.

[@davidorama6690]

All Ricciardo has to do is to out qualify and out race Yuki. Starting at Hungary would be handy.

[@gustavofagundes8994]

the car doesn't matter, it's his motivation that will determine his performance

[@irishRocker1]

Not really lol. You think the way he compared to Lando was lack of motivation? Or cos he couldnt drive the car? Sure, he would not be a second behind if he just wanted it more! Of course that embarrassment wasnt enough motivation to make his performance better! lol dumb

[@gustavofagundes8994]

@@irishRocker1 let's see

[@modgal]

Someone remind me why did DR leave RB again? I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, wonder if he would have been better off staying at RB or even stay at Renault for longer? During his second year at Renault he seemed to have settled, was scoring points in several races and finished 5th overall. I hope for his sake things will now take a turn for the better.

[@Mebsuta]

Because there was this little kid called Max that was really promising and threatened to humble him at best and humiliate him at worse, which would decrease his market value. So he cashed out for big contracts in mid teams.

[@WRXMAN-ms2mm]

This is a grand experiment for both Red Bull Alpha T and Daniel. Yuki although talented is also no Lando so on paper he should be able to best him. This though is a make or break situation for Daniel. At a bare minimum he must consistently be better than Yuki and score points. What I am curious about is what Max could do in the Alpha? That would be a benchmark for the car. If he couldn’t score points or get into Q3 then you know it’s a dud.

[@stevens8744]

My big call is that if Danny Ric can single handedly beat Haas, Williams and Alfa Romeo and get Alpha Tauri to 7th in the constructors, he will replace Perez for the Red Bull seat in 2024. Its only 9 points. I take Redbull, or Horners word with a grain of salt when it comes to saying 2025 is Danny Ric's goal, meaning Perez wont lose his seat in 2024, because he said the same about De Vries and look how that ended up.

[@Roguescienceguy]

Yuki has long corners and all his speed is in late braking. Danny is exactly the same. I don't expect them to be far of each other

[@EnvyCT9A]

But thats what Ricc likes, his issue at Mclaren wasn't stability it was the braking performance changing every lap.

[@ArthurZakaryan23]

RB and AT realistically can't and won't be expecting any miracles from Ricciardo given what is known of the car's current abilities but so long as he can match Yuki, preferably beat him which would be ideal for his chances of taking Sergio's seat in 25 then that's what he needs to do. If it does regularly beat Yuki though, it will show the car is more capable than what we've seen thus far and a better driver can extract more from it which will be bad for Yuki.

[@TheLegend2724]

I just dont think redbull plans to put Daniel in the RB, i think its just a benchmark for yuki. If yuki doesn’t get the RB seat i dont think they’ll pick Daniel probably Lando or someone else