Daniel Ricciardo claims that the newly rebranded RB squad is a Formula 1 team “that’s standing on their own two feet” rather than serving as a Red Bull Junior outfit.
The Faenza-based camp first came into the Red Bull fold when the late Dietrich Mateschitz bought the Minardi entry and created Toro Rosso ahead of the 2006 season.
Toro Rosso served as a proving ground for up-and-coming Red Bull drivers and helped promote the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Ricciardo and Max Verstappen into the senior setup.
But after Toro Rosso rebranded as AlphaTauri in 2020, no driver has been promoted to Red Bull and now Ricciardo says its new iteration as RB means it is no longer a proving ground.
“Visa Cash App RB, it’s another phase of this team’s career,” the Australian driver said after getting his first taste of the VCARB 01 during a filming day at the Misano Circuit.
“It’s a time where I feel that, yes, we have some amazing partners on board who are gonna help us get closer to the front of the grid.
“But I feel like it’s a time where we’re no longer seen as just a Red Bull kind of junior team.
“It’s a team that’s standing on their own two feet. And I think for other teams to take us seriously, this is the chapter I feel we are about to start.”
The transition from a junior Red Bull team to one that CEO Peter Bayer calls “a new team fighting for its place on the grid” has ruffled some feathers in the F1 paddock.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has been vocally against Red Bull and RB’s shared ownership, consistently reiterating his negative thoughts toward it.
Brown has even gone as far as calling the FIA to investigate the Red Bull/RB alliance and has said having two teams under one owner is a “serious issue” and against “the fairness of the sport.”
Ricciardo returns for his first full season of Formula 1 since his troubled stint at McLaren came to an end in 2022.
The Australian driver returned to the team he campaigned with in 2012 and ’13 at last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, replacing Nyck De Vries.
However, Ricciardo’s F1 comeback was interrupted by a broken hand sustained in a Friday practice crash at the Dutch GP, causing him to miss five races.
Ricciardo described returning to the Red Bull setup in 2023 as “something that made me feel whole again” and he looks forward to the year ahead.
“Well, the new car, every year you get excited, you know, for a new car,” he said.
“I think it provides or presents a new opportunity. I think firstly, the livery, I think the car looks great.
“And from a feeling, it was just nice to get a few laps again after a Christmas break.
“It’s hard to know yet where we’ll be, of course, it’s only early. But for me personally, I felt really good getting behind the wheel again.”
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