DANNY RIC IS BACK
I'm handing this normally like a normal person.
The first thing I saw this morning when I woke up was the above post. I thought it was a joke, so I scrolled past, only too see more people talking about it—so I very carefully, not getting my hopes up, checked out the official F1 page. And lo and behold… DANIEL RICCIARDO.
I think I’ve made it clear my feelings about Daniel (I love him, if you haven’t noticed) so I’m going to break this little reaction article down into parts and you can choose which ones to read: the objective, the hypocritical, the speculative, and/or the delusional. Enjoy :)!
The Objective
This whole situation has been so, so shitty for Nyck. He’s a rookie in the worst possible car, with the most stressful team, with pressure put on him from the first race. His showing for Williams in Monza should’ve been the exception, not the rule, but it seems Red Bull didn’t see things this way.
Sure, the rumors were that Red Bull’s intentions when getting Nyck for AlphaTauri was to have a “non-rookie rookie”—someone who was technically a rookie, but had experience and didn’t drive like one. But that was never going to work! I’m not sure why anyone thought that would work!
More damning than that, though, is the fact that it seems like Helmut Marko never liked him. And if there’s one thing that’s been made clear over the years, Helmut has a lot of power over the driver lineups—from choosing their Juniors to (allegedly) getting Gasly demoted after Gasly started an argument with him. The dislike of Helmut Marko didn’t only result in one of the craziest runs of awful publicity and public pressure of all time, but it’s likely a large contributing factor to him being dropped.
Note: I fucking hate Helmut Marko, he’s ancient and unprofessional and needs to go. None of that changes how important he is to the Red Bull ecosystem.
Every rookie should get a full year. I stand by that, it’s the right thing for the teams to do by their drivers. Unfortunately, Red Bull has long proven they take the “this is a cutthroat business” thing too seriously and will not ever do the right thing by their drivers that aren’t also Red Bull golden boys.
This is gross, and awful, and Nyck doesn’t deserve it. What a fucking travesty.
The Hypocritical
I’m so fucking happy to see Daniel back on the grid. I feel so bad for Nyck, but the rush of endorphins I’m getting from the idea of Daniel on the grid is overwhelming my system to a point where I feel like I’m bubbling. I do my best to separate myself from these people because, well, they’re really just rich dudes driving cars, but Daniel’s been my favorite for fucking ever and I’ve missed him so bad.
Literally overjoyed. I mean, I was happy enough seeing him at the tire test in a car with a 3 on it. To hear that he’s driving again, even in a shitty car, makes me feel like I’m sparkling. The fact that he even wants to drive again is incredible to me.
I know, if this swap had been the other way around, I would’ve been furious. It’s hypocritical and it’s rude, but it’s true. Such is sports. I’m okay with being hypocritical and happy! As long as I understand why other people are mad, and don’t put my happiness ahead of Nyck’s health, I think it’s okay?
Anyway, Daniel is back on the grid, and I’m happy :).
The Speculative
So why do make this swap, other than Red Bull just being awful to rookies and second drivers like always? I’ve got a few ideas.
First is the upcoming AlphaTauri brand change. Eyes are always on Ricciardo—he’s known as the most PR-able driver on the grid—and AlphaTauri needs all the attention it can get. Daniel brings sponsors, and with a total brand shakeup, “AlphaTauri” is undoubtedly searching for sponsors for next year. Additionally, they want to draw fans to the team before the =change, which getting Daniel is sure to do.
Secondly, I think they’re putting more pressure on Checo. The third driver title is pressure enough, but Daniel being back on the grid amps it up. If his performance in the awful AlphaTauri is even mediocre, that’s even more pressure on Checo. If his qualifying performances don’t shape up… well, they can’t use the claim that Daniel is rusty anymore.
Now the big question: will Daniel perform? The answer is anything from certain. I mean, I can hope so all I want, but that’s no guarantee. That AlphaTauri is truly abysmal, so far at the back of the pack it might as well be starting in P30.
But Daniel knows how to score points in a midfield car, so there’s a chance. AlphaTauri is also bringing upgrades from Red Bull. There’s a chance he’ll do well enough to at least draw interest from teams in 2025. He also performed very well in the Pirelli test with the RB19, so there’s clearly some talent left there.
This time at AlphaTauri will be incredibly important, however. He basically has to perform. If he doesn’t do well, I’m pretty sure it’ll be the end of his chances on the grid, so. No pressure!
The Delusional
The delusional is also fairly hypocritical toward Checo, so please skip if you don’t want to hear me be insane. But if you don’t decide to skip, just hear me out, because I have a crazy, far-fetched theory that I’m not sure is actually that far fetched!
I started questioning why they would swap drivers right now? The AlphaTauri isn’t expected to score any points really, so they’re not desperate enough for those to do a driver swap for just that. It’s literally two races until summer break, why not just wait until then?
This is where I started getting… well. Kind of insane.
We all know Checo hasn’t been performing necessarily great in the RB19 during qualifying. On a rubbered-in Silverstone track this weekend, in free air, Daniel was able to match Max’s qualifying pace on an objectively worse set of tires—not enough to get him in Checo’s seat straight up, but it was definitely enough to impress. Anyone can come through the field in the RB19, so it’s really the qualifying performance they need to get up to par.
The argument against Daniel getting the seat is that he’s been out of racing for about a year, and wasn’t doing well at Mclaren before that. Everyone has been repeating that, but especially Helmut Marko, who has immense power over the driver lineups. He’s specifically said there’s no one on the grid that could replace Checo—Daniel wasn’t viable because he wasn’t on the grid.
Well… now he is.
Okay, I’ve done a lot of lead up, but here is my theory: they’re giving Checo until summer break to improve his qualifying performances and Daniel until summer break to prove he deserves the Red Bull seat. Why else make the Daniel-Nyck swap at such an awkward time? Why not wait until summer break?
Red Bull is getting two birds with one stone with this driver’s swap. If Checo shapes up before summer—great! They still get all the Daniel-at-AlphaTauri benefits I outlined above. If he doesn’t, Daniel gets some time back on the grid before jumping into the RB19. It’s a win-win for the management.
Unfortunately, it’s a no-win for the drivers except Daniel. This is just more proof as to how Red Bull use mind games and cutthroat tactics to put pressure on their drivers.
Conclusion
Red Bull is a team that has its favorites—Christian Horner is not secretive about who his golden boys are. But his golden boys are always Red Bull’s number one drivers. In that trend, Daniel has always been a bit of an outlier. Christian always treated him like a golden boy, even when Max was his teammate, even when he was on other teams. It’s why I wasn’t super surprised they brought him back to Red Bull in the first place.
It’s a convoluted and brutal situation, one that Red Bull has been guilty of before. It makes me sad, to watch what they’ve done to Nyck. But it also makes me so happy to hear Daniel will be on the grid again. I don’t know—I’m feeling so much.
A final word: ‘What about Liam Lawson?’ you might ask. Well, I asked the same thing, because I love him. Unfortunately, Liam has a 1-year contract with Muger in Super Formula, meaning he won’t be available for a few more months. Another reason I think the driver’s swap had more to do with Daniel than with Nyck—why not wait for Liam to be free?