Only a few people get the opportunity of living the best years of their life all over again. And Daniel Ricciardo is one of them. In 2012, he drove for Red Bull’s sister team, Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri), and 2 years later, got promoted to Red Bull. In 2023, he’s trying to repeat history. He’s signed for AlphaTauri in 2023 and is aiming for the Red Bull seat in 2025. However, Red Bull’s Taskmaster has highlighted the obvious obstacle in Ricciardo’s journey.

“Obviously the dream is a Red Bull seat,” said a hopeful Ricciardo when he was asked about his future in F1. He’s proved himself worthy of driving for the best team once and he can do it again. But his dream can only come true if he can prove himself in AlphaTauri, which is the slowest car on the grid. Though that is one obstacle, RB Advisor Helmut Marko feels the bigger challenge awaits him at Red Bull.

And that big challenge is the reigning World Champion Max Verstappen‘s mastery of RB19. In an interview with sport.de, Marko said, “We haven’t made any promises. He knows that if he performs well, there is a possibility. Life alongside Max is certainly not easy. There are very few drivers who can withstand Verstappen in terms of speed and psychologically.”

Read More: “Never Wanted Him to Leave”: Max Verstappen Humiliates Teammate Sergio Perez as He Makes a Heartfelt Confession for Daniel Ricciardo

Marko is the top guy at Red Bull and their drivers have no choice but to agree with most of what he says. So the Honey Badger should know that it’s not going to be an easy path to take back to glory. On the other hand, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda has made his opposing stance known on Marko’s decision on replacing his ex-teammate with Ricciardo.

Yuki Tsunoda Publicly Disagrees With Helmut Marko Over Daniel Ricciardo Replacing Nyck de Vries

Most people on the outside disagreed with Red Bull’s move of sacking Nyck de Vries. And Tsunoda too has joined that club. He believes that his rookie teammate had a lot of experience in other categories of motorsport. And as a result of that, he was getting to learn a lot. But Marko’s ruthless decision has dampened his spirits.

“He had plenty of experience in other categories and gave the team good feedback based on his knowledge,” said Tsunoda, as quoted by Express. “He had the pace and, as a friend, I enjoyed my time with him.”

Now, that the move has been finalized, Tsunoda can only accept it and move on. With the Hungarian GP weekend starting today, fans will get to see how AlphaTauri operates with their new signing.

WATCH THIS STORY | Daniel Ricciardo faces Red Bull prodigy threat in F1 return