John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
The AlphaTauri drivers are hoping upgrades can deliver results at the Hungaroring
The time for talking is almost over.
Soon we will finally see Daniel Ricciardo back on the track, in his first race of the season with AlphaTauri.
The grid heads to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix, and before things get underway the AlphaTauri duo of Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda previewed the race for the media. For Ricciardo, the excitement begins with the mere fact that he is back on the grid for a team he knows well.
“I’m stoked to be back. As always with the Red Bull family, you have to be ready for a call and when it came I jumped at the opportunity. The transition to AlphaTauri has gone smoothly,” said Ricciardo. “Last week, I was back in Faenza, the factory has changed a lot since I last raced for the team a decade ago, but there were still plenty of familiar faces and I felt at home as we prepare for the upcoming race.”
Ricciardo admits that there will be differences between driving the RB19 — as he did at last week’s test in Silverstone — and sliding into the cockpit of the AT04. But he insists that he is up to the challenge.
“When I drove the Red Bull in the tyre test at Silverstone last week it all felt very normal. The AlphaTauri car will be what it is. I’m going to drive it and work from there. I don’t want to have too many preconceived ideas about it,” added Ricciardo. “I think if it’s a car that feels balanced, that’s something I can work with. It’s going to be a challenge, to jump in and just hit the ground running, but I’m excited about it.”
Tsunoda outlined how he is looking forward to working with Ricciardo, but did share some thoughts about Nyck de Vries, his outgoing teammate at AlphaTauri.
“I’m looking forward to working with Daniel. I can’t say I know him very well, but we had a fun day filming together earlier this year in Miami. I think I’ll benefit from having a very good, experienced driver as a teammate,” said Tsunoda. “I’m sure I can learn lots of things from him and I also expect he will be able to bring something to the team and move the car development forward.”
“I would also like to say that I had an enjoyable time over the past ten races with Nyck. I learned from him, and we also had a good time away from the track,” added Tsunoda. “He had plenty of experience in other categories and gave the team good feedback based on his knowledge. He had the pace and, as a friend, I enjoyed my time with him.”
As for what to expect this weekend from AlphaTauri, Tsunoda believes that some upgrades, coupled with the configuration of the Hungaroring, should favor the AT04.
“For this weekend, we have more upgrades for the race in Hungary, on top of those we brought to the last race,” described Tsunoda. “Budapest has completely different track characteristics compared to the past two races, and its slow-speed corners should suit our car better than the high-speed ones. I like the track, it’s technical and challenging, and good fun.”
For Ricciardo, taming the Hungaroring comes down to rhythm, and hoping you use more of the right foot than the left.
“I’m looking forward to also developing the car and using my experience, and ultimately, I think, for Budapest, just go out and have fun, try and use more right foot than left and have a good time! The key to this track is getting into a rhythm – you put so many corners together – and if the car is balanced, you can really have some fun,” added Ricciardo.
The fun begins in a few short days.
