RB, the rebranded AlphaTauri operation, is a team looking to move away from being viewed merely as a feeder operation to Red Bull Racing.
There has been fresh investment in the team, a number of new faces (not to mention some very familiar ones) and, ironically, a strengthening of technical ties with Red Bull Racing as allowed under the regulations.
Indeed, while it publicly proclaims itself to no longer be just a feeder team for Red Bull Racing it is working on relocating its aerodynamics office in the United Kingdom and expanding it, nearer to the ‘senior’ team.
That is well and dandy within the regulations but does come across as somewhat hypocritical as the squad works so hard to be viewed as its own team.
Of course, it’s difficult for us to do that now since only last year it was AlphaTauri, and not so long ago, Toro Rosso. For the better part of two decades, it has existed to feed talent to Milton Keynes. That will take time to break down.
And so the building phase of the operation will be a longer-term project.
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It’s a process Ricciardo is happy to be part of for now, as he rebuilds his own career, but admits he’s viewing the collaboration more short-term.
“I think this is a year where the team, you know, really tries to establish themselves and kind of stand on their own two feet,” Ricciardo said.
The Australian’s experience is useful in that process as he offers direction and clarity from the driver’s seat.
He’s experienced four teams aside from the Faenza operation, for whom he drove under its Toro Rosso guise.
That insight is valuable not only on a race weekend but in terms of processes and structure in a team that has new leadership with team principal Laurent Mekies.
“I think there’s a lot of experienced people coming into the team,” Ricciardo said when asked by Speedcafe about the changes at RB.
“It’s still a team. It’s not enough to have just one person being good, it’s how you gel with others.
“Naturally, there’s a bit of a process there and that’s why I kind of reckon, as the season goes on, I believe we’ll get stronger and learn more.”
Ricciardo has made no secret of his desire to return to Red Bull Racing in place of Sergio Perez at the end of this season.
At 34, he’ll turn 35 in July, he is approaching the end of his F1 career. Time is running out to rediscover the success he enjoyed during his time with Red Bull Racing from 2014 to 2018.
Hence he’s in something of a rush to maximise whatever window he has left in the sport. That puts his ambitions somewhat at odds with the broader needs of RB.
“Going back to the bigger picture stuff, I say that, but really I’m just thinking short term,” he confessed when pressed by Speedcafe about his objectives versus the team’s.
“This second chapter for me is something that I’m really kind of thriving off again and enjoying, so I’m not getting caught up in what could be and what could happen. I don’t think that’s going to do me any good.
“So, I try to just be present and so therefore, it’s in a way more short-term thinking.”
But while that’s the case, and he works to demonstrate that he is a viable alternative to Perez at Red Bull Racing from 2025, Ricciardo is no fool.
He understands well that his current job is not just to deliver results on track but to contribute to its reinvention. He is a leader and in a position to help drive the team forward.
“I know this is a process,” he conceded.
“I think they [RB] really valued by feedback and experience last year… just try and keep that ticking along.”
Ricciardo has a one-year deal with RB that will carry him through until the end of the season, though a longer-term contract is understood to be in place with Red Bull.
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