Daniel Ricciardo sees Nico Hulkenberg’s return to Formula 1 as evidence that the doors aren’t quite closing and has suggested renaming it to ‘Nico Hulkenback’.
Daniel Ricciardo, who is set to leave McLaren a year early, has accepted a deal to become Red Bull’s third driver rather than pursue a midfield seat on the 2023 F1 grid. Preparing for the season as a spectator.
Nico Hulkenberg returns to the F1 grid, replacing Daniel Ricciardo. It’s not the first time Hulkenberg is back.
Nico Hulkenberg, who lost his F1 seat at Williams at the end of 2010, returned to F1 in 2012 with Force India after working as a reserve driver. After that, he lost Renault’s F1 seat at the end of 2019, but in 2020 he will participate in the F1 British GP, 70th Anniversary GP and Eifel GP from Racing Point. After being appointed as Aston Martin’s reserve driver, he returned to substitute at the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia GPs in 2022.
And in 2023, Nico Hulkenberg will return to F1 full-time with Haas F1 Team.
Daniel Ricciardo says he could be called ‘Nico Hulkenbach’. He cited Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen as examples of experienced drivers who once left the grid are very likely to find a way to find their way back.
“It’s Hulkenbach – he’s been back so many times that he has to change his name. It’s no longer berg, it’s back,” Ricciardo told Crash.net.
“There is definitely a way. I know myself better than anyone, I know what I need and what I feel will help me.
“But of course if you look at other examples, there are some pretty good ones, like Alonso and Magnussen. In a way it’s encouraging.”
“We all have different connections and the offseason can affect us all differently. I’m looking at Alonso
“What he did could make me stronger for myself personally and for what I feel I’m benefiting from. I feel like I can actually take myself out a little bit more.”
“In short, that kind of encourages me, and it makes me even happier in that I feel like I did the right thing.”
Daniel Ricciardo, who has said he would rather return to a winning and title-contending position than jump into a long-term project with a midfield team, may of course have to look further down the grid. do not have.
Daniel Ricciardo is unlikely to be sitting at Red Bull in 2024 unless tensions rise again between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in 2023 and reach uncontrollable levels.
Among the examples he mentioned, Fernando Alonso returned with the Alpine F1 team in midfield. . The same is true for Haas F1 Team’s Magnussen and Hulkenberg, making a comeback more realistic.
So if Daniel Ricciardo decides he wants to give himself the best chance on the grid in 2024, another Renault- or McLaren-type project could be needed.
Category: F1 / Daniel Ricardo / Nico Hulkenberg