03 January 2024 , 21:49
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AlphaTauri chief executive Peter Bayer has admitted Red Bull initially planned against allowing Daniel Ricciardo to race for their sister team last year.
But the U-turn came, of course, after a test at Silverstone last July. He showed enough pace to convince Red Bull's decision-makers that he was the right man to replace the struggling Nyck de Vries just 10 races into the season.
Prior to that, according to Bayer, Red Bull were against the idea of allowing their reserve driver to race. "When I started, I always looked a bit and thought to myself, 'If Nyck de Vries doesn't make it in terms of performance, then Daniel would be a great solution for us'," he told Motorsport Magazin.
"Why? Daniel has experience, so he helps us with the setup on all the routes. Daniel is a real reference for Yuki [Tsunoda]. He brought an incredible amount of new energy into the team within a week.
"Our mechanics were happy, 'Hey, wow, something is happening!' The transition wasn't easy, but at the end of the day it had such a positive impact. Originally it was said, 'No, Daniel is a reserve driver at Red Bull and it stays that way'.
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"And then over the course of a month we actually kept asking how things were going. At some point Christian Horner came to us and said, 'We're doing the test at Silverstone, maybe we'll take a look at it'. Then Helmut [Marko] said, 'Yes, why not?'"
Marko is Red Bull's long-serving team adviser who is head of their driver development efforts. For the young racers rising through the ranks, he is the man you need to impress if you are to have a chance of making it to Formula 1 through that route.
And it appears the same is true for Ricciardo over the next 12 months. The Aussie has made no secret of his desire not only to cement his place back on the grid with AlphaTauri, but to win back his old Red Bull seat if he can.
And Bayer has made it clear that, although there is a committee, Marko remains the man with the final say on drivers. "Everyone really sits at the same table," he added.
"There were discussions in which [Red Bull projects chief] Oliver Mintzlaff was involved, [outgoing AlphaTauri team principal] Franz Tost was of course involved in a leading role, but Christian Horner was also at the table at one point. Ultimately, the decision is made by Helmut Marko - it will stay that way."