Christian Horner says Red Bull are "excited" to see what Daniel Ricciardo can offer AlphaTauri as he begins his Formula 1 loan-spell.
It was announced on Tuesday that Nyck de Vries would be axed from the team with immediate effect, with Ricciardo returning to the F1 grid from the Hungarian Grand Prix to partner Yuki Tsunoda.
The Australian was back on-track on Tuesday before the move was confirmed at the wheel of the all-conquering RB19 at Silverstone in a Pirelli tyre test - with Ricciardo's performance understood to be "impressive" with a time good enough for the front-row in Sunday's British Grand Prix.
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Horner responds to Ricciardo move
"It is great to see Daniel hasn’t lost any form while away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his SIM sessions translate on track," Horner said.
"His times during the tyre test were extremely competitive. It was a very impressive drive and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at Scuderia AlphaTauri."
Ricciardo previously drove for AlphaTauri when it was named Toro Rosso between 2012 and 2013, before being promoted to the senior Red Bull squad for 2014 after Mark Webber's Grand Prix retirement.
He claimed seven wins in five years before leaving at the end of 2018 for Renault, but jumped ship from that project before the 2020 season had even begun by agreeing to join McLaren for '21.
It did bring him another race win at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, but Ricciardo badly struggled to adapt to the McLaren, eventually being replaced by Oscar Piastri for 2023 after performances continued to slump.
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