AlphaTauri has announced that Australian Daniel Ricciardo will replace Nyck De Vries with immediate effect before the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The 34-year-old will take the wheel at the Hungaroring alongside new teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the Red Bull-owned team, and will see out the remainder of this campaign after De Vries' struggles extended to the British Grand Prix last weekend.
The Dutch rookie had previously been given a 'yellow card' by head of Red Bull's driver development programme Helmut Marko due to poor performance, and it seems that the team's patience has now run out.
But why have the team picked Ricciardo as his replacement and was De Vries sacked too soon? The Sporting News explains.
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Why is Ricciardo replacing De Vries?
After securing a P9 finish at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix on his debut for Williams — following Alex Albon's bout of appendicitis — it looked like the sky was the limit for De Vries.
Such was his level of performance and experience that day, the Red Bull group pounced in the off-season and De Vries was announced as a driver for AlphaTauri for the 2023 season alongside Tsunoda.
But it's been far from smooth sailing since. His best result for the team came with a P12 finish at the Monaco Grand Prix but aside from that lonesome bright spot, there's been a number of incidents including an untimely DNF in Azerbaijan caused by his own mistake.
As such, with no points to his name after 10 races, patience has run out and his removal from the team was confirmed on July 11 as Ricciardo was officially named his successor. It's not difficult to see why the Perth native has been picked.
With 232 race starts in F1 to his name across stints with Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Renault and McLaren, there are few more experienced drivers out there. That in itself is enticing, especially as AlphaTauri look to beat out the other back-marker cars in the 2023 Constructors' Championship.
On top of that, his transition to the team is easy given his current contract as Red Bull's third official driver for the 2023 season. With the link between Red Bull and AlphaTauri — as both teams are owned by the Austrian energy drink manufacturers — his switch can be made seamlessly as we've seen with other midseason driver changes between the two outfits previously.
“I’m very pleased to welcome Daniel back into the team,” commented Franz Tost, Scuderia AlphaTauri Team Principal after the move was announced. “There’s no doubt about his driving skills, and he already knows many of us, so his integration will be easy and straight forward.
“The team will also profit a lot from his experience, as he is an eight-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner. I would like to thank Nyck for his valuable contribution during his time with Scuderia AlphaTauri and I wish him all the best for the future.”
It's also likely that De Vries' age added to his own downfall, whether fairly or not. At 28, the Dutch driver was late in gaining his first official F1 drive but from the offset, he was quick to explain that he didn't think he had more experience than fellow new drivers Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant in 2023.
"I think that’s almost irrelevant to me whether I am titled as a rookie or not — I’m very fortunate to be probably a little bit older and have had the opportunity to gather experience in different championships. Those different experiences have helped me develop myself and become a more complete racing driver."
Ricciardo's F1 career record
Ricciardo remains one of F1's most recognisable and well-liked figures despite his demotion for the grid for the 2023 season.
Starting his career in the sport back in 2011 with the now-defunct HRT team — whom Red Bull paid to allow Ricciardo to gain a seat in the sport after his impressive junior showings with the Austrian team — the Australian has gone on to race 232 times.
He joined Toro Rosso for two seasons in 2012 before his promotion to the Red Bull team came in 2014. After winning seven times and twice finishing P3 in the World Drivers' Championship standings, he then moved on to Renault for two years and subsequently McLaren for another two.
His most recent victory came in Italy in 2021 with McLaren, taking advantage of an incident between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. A year earlier, he achieved a podium during his time with Renault, winning a bet in the process which forced boss Cyril Abiteboul to get a tattoo.
Ricciardo's F1 career summary
| Races | Wins | Podiums | Points finishes | Pole positions | Fastest lap |
| 232 | 8 | 32 | 132 | 3 | 16 |
During his F1 career, Ricciardo has finished on the podium in 13.79% of his races and has taken points in 56.9%.