F1 News: Daniel Ricciardo's "High-Risk" Return Analysed By Insider As Expectations Are Outlined

Martin Brundle has assessed Daniel Ricciardo's return to AlphaTauri.

Former F1 driver and Sky Sports F1 presenter Martin Brundle has given insight into the pressure that will be on Daniel Ricciardo as he comes back to the grid with the AlphaTauri team. 

It was confirmed earlier this week that Red Bull and AlphaTauri had decided to part ways with rookie Nyck de Vries just ten races into his contract and Ricciardo has replaced him immediately. 

Brundle has spoken to Sky Sports News about the pressure that will be on the eight-time grand prix winner as he returns to a full-time seat. Red Bull Racing is known to be rather cut-throat with their drivers so Ricciardo will have to do all that he can to prove that he is worthy of this seat, or even Sergio Perez's as some rumours suggest. 

The legendary F1 pundit started off by revealing that he was quite shocked about the move from the Australian driver as AlphaTauri are currently one of the slowest cars on the grid and are in tenth position in the constructors' standings. He explained:

“I’m really pleased to see him back, but just my honest reaction was, ‘wow, Daniel’s going to do that, is he?’ It surprised me.

“Daniel’s always talked about he’s lost his mojo and he needs to get his enthusiasm back, and so I didn’t think he’d take that, unless there’s another deal that goes with it, a ‘you do this and then down the road we’ll do that’.

“I’m sure he’s had six months of sim work and not being a Formula 1 driver and that will have hit him very hard. And so I can fully understand the attraction of being one of the 20 on the grid.

“My overriding feeling here is Formula 1 feels a better place when Daniel Ricciardo’s on the grid, and I hated seeing him having to loiter around all weekend."

Brundle went on to claim that it is a high risk for Ricciardo. He continued:

“It’s high risk for Daniel in what is probably the slowest car on the grid.

“He’s got to beat Tsunoda, he’s absolutely got to. He needs to edge him in quali and in the races, that’s an absolute given as an expectation.

“Maybe he can outperform that car, if he can massively outperform that car and get it somewhere near the top 10 and keep it there in the race, then maybe it will be his salvation in that respect.”