Daniel Ricciardo bombshell shut down as billionaire heiress’ wedding sparks rumour

Reports of Daniel Ricciardo being lined up for a shock return to the F1 grid have been shot down despite being seen in Italy.

AlphaTauri has shut down reports Aussie F1 star Daniel Ricciardo was being lined up to take the seat of rookie driver Nyck de Vries.

Multiple reports this week in both the Italian and French media stated that Red Bull driver development boss Helmut Marko has given underperforming AlphaTauri rookie Nyck De Vries an ultimatum to improve by June, or face the chop in favour of Ricciardo.

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De Vries is yet to finish higher than 14th in his first full season as a Formula One driver, and AlphaTauri have a long history of swapping drivers with senior affiliate Red Bull.

While Ricciardo did have a seat fitting for AlphaTauri ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, sources told ESPN that this was not indicative of preparations for a race seat.

Ricciardo, who like many F1 drivers has a property in Monaco, was indeed in Italy around the time of the reports, but it is understood he was there to attend the wedding of close friends Scotty James and Chloe Stroll.

Scotty James and Chloe Stroll. Photo: Instagram

Chloe celebrates X-Games success with Scotty. Photo: Instagram

Stroll is a singer and the sister of Aston Martin driver Lance and the daughter of billionaire team owner Lawrence, while James is an Australian snowboarder who has won two Olympic medals in the half-pipe.

An although reports stated that Ricciardo would be the one to step in, Kiwi Red Bull junior Liam Lawson would be the most likely candidate to step up.

Ricciardo has already indicated in interviews that if he was to return to the grid in 2024, he would want to do so with a frontrunner.

AlphaTauri, previously known as Toro Rosso, has historically been used as a junior feeder for the Constructors’ Champions, with four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and current double World Champion Max Verstappen both getting their full-time starts with the team.

Ricciardo himself also drove for Toro Rosso in 2012 and 2013 before being promoted to the Red Bull Racing outfit in 2014.

Russian driver Daniil Kvyat was replaced by an 18-year-old Verstappen in 2016 and sent back down to Toro Rosso, while Frenchman Pierre Gasly was promoted to Red Bull for the 2019 season before being demoted again for the latter half of the year for Alex Albon.

Ricciardo has previous driven for Toro Rosso. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

De Vries is yet to score a point as a full-time driver in the sport, but comments he made in 2019 have come back into public consciousness – denigrating McLaren’s Lando Norris and Williams’ Alex Albon who competed alongside him in Formula 2 and clinched Formula 1 seats at the conclusion of the 2018 season over him.

“I do not want to be arrogant at all, but Norris and Albon were in my eyes really no better than me,” De Vries said in 2019.

“Of course it is sometimes frustrating to see that they are there now and not me, but everyone walks their own path, and for some it is easier than for others.”

De Vries has gone 1-4 in qualifying this season, (starting the Miami Grand Prix in 15th, to teammate Tsunoda‘s 17th) and 0-5 in races against his teammate, Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda.