Daniel Ricciardo appears to return to Formula 1 with Alfa Romeo

Daniel Ricciardo will be one of the most popular names in the following months List of drivers for the 2024 Formula 1 season, After taking a year off the circuit, McLaren cut him short, the Australian already seemed to be from now on to take a seat.

The current reserve driver for Red Bull, he appeared at the Australian Grand Prix for the first time since leaving his former team, as part of the team that was on the podium, In addition to participating in his team’s previous events, And from now on he is the next Alfa Romeo driver.

Will Daniel Ricciardo go to Alfa Romeo?

In the aforementioned team, important changes are coming after the current season, because the link ends exactly with Alfa Romeo so that the team can return to its original name, which is Sauber. In this way, Ricciardo will enter Sauber’s return plans, according to journalist Pedro Firmin.

“Sauber is the option that is currently working closely With the driver’s environment until he returns to Formula 1. Daniel Ricciardo could return to Formula 1 in 2024 Together with Alfa Romeo “, According to him, the Mexican is going to Sauber, said the caller, who was also responsible for spreading the rumor that Lando Norris will put Checo Pérez at Red Bull by 2024.

Guanyou Zhou, the pilot who was sacrificed

The driver sacrificed in this sense would be the Chinese Guanyu Zhou, who although he left some good feelings in the team, He did not stand out among the network, at the sports level, or in the media. In his first season with Alfa Romeo, the Chinese driver scored six points, while in 2023 he added two. This number is far from the 49th achieved by teammate Valtteri Bottas in 2022.

Bottas and Zhou terminated the contract with Alfa Romeo In the 2023 season, and taking into account the results of one and the other, Bottas could renew his contract, while Cho would have to find a seat.

What about Daniel Ricciardo?

In the words of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, Ricciardo has adapted to his role in the simulation as a reserve driver, realizing he has no options to move to the RB19 or due to the loss from Max Verstappen or Checo Pérez.

“He’s been sitting through all the briefings, too He worked hard on the simulator in the UK Doing some race support and some development work. For us, it’s good to have him on the team, to contribute to the drivers and the engineering team, and we hope he rediscovers his love for the sport. He’s going to run some tests for us later in the year and we’ll see how he’s doing.“Horner said.

Ricciardo’s plan is to let a year pass on the slopes And assessing some proposals for the 2024 season, in this sense, the ideal thing for the Australian pilot is to take a contract that will allow him to be on top again.

Things in Formula 1 will start moving for the next season As we approach the summer holidays. At this point, teams usually announce contract renewals or announce the end of relationships with their pilots, so we can only wait.