Daniel Ricciardo's return is the best news for Formula 1

Daniel Ricciardo is back: the Hungarian Grand Prix marked the return of the Australian driver for the rest of the season, who will drive for Scuderia AlphaTauri in place of Dutchman Nyck De Vries. Ricciardo had been left without a seat after leaving McLaren at the end of last season. Until the call from AlphaTauri, he held the role of third driver at RedBull, which allowed him to remain in the circus, albeit in a reduced capacity. However, his return to the paddock as an official driver is the best possible news for Formula 1, with little competition so far in the 2023 season.

RedBull is picking up where they left off last season, dominating the competition from race one, while Max Verstappen is on course for his third consecutive world title and has a real chance of winning every race on the calendar by the end of the season. No one seems to be able to counter this dominance, with the result that attention for Formula 1 is in danger of dwindling considerably. Things are not going well off the track either. With the exception of Italy, where Ferrari events are always in the newspaper headlines and on TV, it is difficult to find a talking point or a character that can fascinate millions of fans.

Daniel Ricciardo can fill that gap. With his perpetual smile, his ability to never take himself too seriously and his ever-present wit, he has managed to build a relationship of sympathy and trust with his fans. And that's millions, as Ricciardo was probably the only driver to exponentially increase his name recognition thanks to Drive to Survive. He has been in the lead role since the first season. Over the years, his character has evolved: his voice is the first we hear in the first episode of season one, where we follow him as he makes the difficult decision to leave RedBull and his family in the paddock to join Renault and pursue his dream of winning the world championship.

In season three, we are surprised by his abrupt decision to leave Renault and join McLaren, where he betrays the trust of Cyril Abiteboul, the former Renault team boss, who develops such strong feelings for Ricciardo that he gets a tattoo to celebrate their joint podium finish at the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix. The cliffhanger of the last episode of season five is dedicated to him, who was sacked by McLaren after two seasons marked by disappointment and poor results. We say goodbye to him, the public favourite, who is confronted with the greatest fear of every driver, namely to contest his last Formula 1 race.

In truth, the series ends with a phrase taken from Ricciardo's team radio at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, his last victory, that sounds like foreshadowing: 'For those who thought I was gone, I never left. Words that have already sparked the hype for the new season, and it is legitimate to expect an episode entirely dedicated to his return to Formula 1, as the series' producer Paul Martin confirmed in an interview with the New York Post: 'Drive to Survive would never have existed without Daniel Ricciardo'. And indeed, his triumphant entry through the paddock door was greeted by dozens of IG posts from the F1 channels, AlphaTauri and his colleagues. With his return to the track comes the return of patter, such as Pierre Gasly and Niko Hulkenberg's surnames being endlessly shouted, interviews with a fake Texan accent and gags with his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

So Formula 1 is welcoming Ricciardo at the best possible time: the upcoming summer break could give us weeks of discussion about the possibility of Ricciardo taking Sergio Perez's place at RedBull, completing his journey of redemption. There are also two races left on the schedule in the United States, including one in Las Vegas, and his presence could make all the difference. For Ricciardo is perhaps the ultimate Formula One celebrity, the only one besides Lewis Hamilton, who can transcend the boundaries of the sport and be considered a superstar.