Max Verstappen is confident Red Bull can deal with the loss of Daniel Ricciardo as their simulator driver, following his return to the grid with AlphaTauri. Ricciardo was drafted in to replace Nyck de Vries after the Dutchman failed to score points in the 10 races he contested with the team, following a six-month stint as Red Bull's third driver. Alongside acting as a Red Bull Ambassador, part of his role encompassed putting hours in on the simulator at their Milton Keynes factory during race weekends to help the team trackside. He was helped by his former Red Bull engineer Simon Rennie, who now manages the simulator for the squad. After Sergio Perez expressed disappointment over the loss of Ricciardo's services , Verstappen gave his views when speaking to media, including RacingNews365 : "Honestly, I'm happy that he's back in the car. "I would always prefer him in car then being our reserve because he deserves to be in a car. "So we'll deal with that loss. I'm happy to deal with that loss as long as he's in the car."
Verstappen: Strong first weekend from Ricciardo
Ricciardo has only been out of a full-time drive for ten races, but he still impressed on his return to his former team having last drove for them in 2013 when they were known as Toro Rosso. Verstappen was also impressed with how he adapted quickly in a car that has been tricky to drive for both De Vries and Yuki Tsunoda throughout this year. "He had a very, very strong first weekend. Already in practice, qualifying, and then he had the bad luck in Turn 1," said Verstappen, referring to his race in Hungary. "But still fought his way back to P13. I think for that first weekend, he did a great job."
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