Daniel Ricciardo was so impressive during his tyre testing at Silverstone that although the AlphaTauri seat was already going to be given to him, he still ended up surprising the Red Bull management with his numbers.
F1 reporter Lawrence Barretto was present at the event that saw Ricciardo try out the RB19 for tyre testing duties.
Just a couple of hours prior to him getting behind the wheels, AlphaTauri announced its decision to sack Nyck de Vries after less than half a season in the sport.
This was typically ruthless of the Red Bull management when it comes to its drivers and de Vries, who had failed to notch a single point in the first 10 races of the season, was perhaps not that surprised with the decision.
With Ricciardo roped in to replace the Dutchman, there was even more paparazzi surrounding the Honey Badger’s performance in the RB19.
It is fair to say that he did not disappoint and his numbers were so good that both Christian Horner and Helmut Marko were left pleasantly surprised.
Although Ricciardo will feature for AlphaTauri for the remainder of this season, having been ‘loaned’ to the team by Red Bull, he personally sees himself finishing his career at the Milton Keynes-based outfit in what would be a ‘fairytale’ ending.
The time Ricciardo set during the tyre-testing would put him on the front row for the British Grand Prix and it shows that he indeed has ‘re-found his mojo‘ after a disappointing spell at McLaren.
“Sources say Ricciardo was impressive in today’s Pirelli tyre test with Red Bull, his first drive in 2023 machinery, and that his best lap would have been good enough for the front row of the grid in Sunday’s British Grand Prix,” Barretto said.
Based on how the British Grand Prix panned out, championship leader Max Verstappen set the pole time of a 1:26.720, with McLaren’s Lando Norris 0.241 seconds behind him completing the front row.
However, Barretto has failed to mention which tyre compound Ricciardo was racing on, with Pirelli having brought C1, C2 and C3 compounds to Silverstone.
This means there were two more grippy compounds C4 and C5 that Ricciardo could have potentially used.
Regardless of that, it appears Ricciardo definitely did enough to appease the Red Bull hierarchy and it only mounts pressure on Sergio Perez, who has to contend not only with his own inconsistency, a highly dominant partner in Max, but now also the ever-growing shadow of a fan-favourite in the mould of Danny Ricc.
Will Ricciardo replace Perez next season at Red Bull despite the Mexican having a contract that runs till the end of the 2024 season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.