Martin Brundle has admitted his surprise over Daniel Ricciardo taking the "high risk" option of returning to Formula 1 with AlphaTauri.
It was announced on Tuesday that Ricciardo would replace the underfire Nyck de Vries alongside Yuki Tsunoda for the remainder of the 2023 season, sealing the return of the Australian to the grid after he lost his McLaren seat at the end of 2022.
Ricciardo had previously stated he wanted a top seat to consider returning to Grand Prix racing, but instead will drive what has been the worst-performing car in 2023, with only two points to its name.
And veteran Sky Sports F1 broadcaster Brundle believes that while F1 is a better place with Ricciardo around, the return is surprising.
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Brundle on Ricciardo
"I'm really pleased to see him back, but just my honest reaction was: 'Wow. Daniel's going to do that, is he?' It surprised me," Brundle told Sky Sports News.
"Daniel's always talked about he's lost his mojo and he needs to get his enthusiasm back, and so I didn't think he'd take that, unless there's another deal that goes with it, a 'You do this and then down the road, we'll do that'.
"I'm sure he's had six months of SIM work and not being a Formula 1 driver and that will have hit him very hard, and so I can fully understand the attraction of being one of the 20 on the grid.
"My overriding feeling here is Formula 1 feels a better place when Daniel Ricciardo's on the grid, and I hated seeing him having to loiter around all weekend.
"It's high risk for Daniel in what is probably the slowest car on the grid.
"He's got to beat Tsunoda, he's absolutely got to. He needs to edge him in Qualifying and in the races, that's an absolute given as an expectation.
"Maybe he can outperform that car, if he can massively outperform that car and get it somewhere near the top 10 and keep it there in the race, then maybe it will be his salvation in that respect."
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