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Reports have emerged that Daniel Ricciardo could possibly be in line for an early return to F1.
As reported by multiple publications, Nyck de Vries has been given an ultimatum of three to four races by Helmut Marko and if his performances don't improve, he might be forced to pack up and leave mid-season. It has also been reported that Ricciardo is the driver that AlphaTauri is lining up to replace De Vries.
Now there have been contrasting reports as well that state none of this is true and the Red Bull juniors are the priority when it comes to replacing Nyck de Vries.
While Helmut Marko did pour cold water on the rumors, if Daniel Ricciardo had indeed agreed to replace Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri, it could have proven to be a career suicide.
AlphaTauri is one of the worst cars on the grid
One of the major demands for Daniel Ricciardo when it comes to making his way back on the grid is the availability of a competitive car. During the 2023 F1 Australian GP, Ricciardo made it clear that he did want to return to the sport but he would not do it in an uncompetitive car.
AlphaTauri is arguably the worst or the second-worst car on the F1 grid this season and in 2022. The car is hardly one of the best on the grid and with the exception of Baku, it has struggled on most tracks.
Even if Ricciardo is thrown back into a car like Alpha Tauri, he will be competing in the highly competitive midfield in a car that is just not up to the mark. These conditions are hardly something that would motivate Ricciardo and lure a return to the sport.
Yuki Tsunoda is in spectacular form this season
One of the bigger warning signs that Ricciardo should have been wary of is the form that Yuki Tsunoda has shown this season. Tsunoda has arguably been one of the top five drivers on the grid this season and has completely decimated Nyck de Vries.
One of the reasons why Ricciardo was forced to take a sabbatical this season was him getting outperformed by a young driver in a team he has driven for a while.
Lando Norris had been a McLaren driver for two years already when Ricciardo joined and used that to his advantage. Ricciardo would have been walking into a similar trap at AlphaTauri with Yuki in red-hot form after driving for the team for multiple years now.
Daniel Ricciardo is not the best at adapting to new cars
Arguably one of the bigger things that have been exposed to an extent is Ricciardo's inability to adapt his driving style to new cars. The Australian struggled massively with McLaren in 2021 and 2022. Even at Renault, the first half of his first season was spent understanding the car.
If he replaces De Vries mid-season, he will be diving into a car that he has not driven and to add to this, he won't have the background knowledge of going through multiple days of pre-season testing.
A driver with an inability to adapt to new cars quickly should not be making a mid-season switch to one of the slowest cars on the grid with his future teammate in red-hot form.
His reputation cannot afford another bad season
Finally, the most important point, Daniel Ricciardo's reputation as a driver took a major hit during his McLaren stint. He was considered to be one of the best drivers on the grid when he joined McLaren in 2021. By the time he left, not many had that impression of him.
While Daniel Ricciardo might think very highly of himself, his driving reputation cannot take another year of him losing to his teammate. If he went to AlphaTauri without any prior testing of the car and hence no preparation, against a teammate like Yuki Tsunoda who is in stunning form, it would have been hard to project him as the driver that comes off better in these engagements.
If he had come off worse than Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri then his career was as good as over. Even if there were teams that wanted to give an opportunity, those teams would have taken a step back and the Australian's stock would have faced further decline.
For Ricciardo's career, another loss against a teammate would have meant the end of any speculation about the Australian's driving ability, and for a driver that still aspires to do great things in F1, this would certainly not be the most ideal situation.
Conclusion
The opportunity to drive for AlphatTauri would have been an interesting one for Daniel Ricciardo. If he did well, he could have been in line to replace Perez at Red Bull.
However, the fire that he would have been forced to go through with too many odds stacked against him, going up against a teammate in stunning form while you're not even familiar with the car would have been a high-risk move and it could have proven to be a career suicide Daniel Ricciardo.
