Alpha Tauri, Red Bull's junior team has removed Nyck de Vries from its driver lineup, and Formula 1 veteran Daniel Ricciardo will be replacing him, according to Formula1.com.

Nyck de Vries has struggled so far this season, and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda has gotten the better of him.

Daniel Ricciardo participated in a test in Silverstone on Tuesday morning, and his lap times reportedly pushed the move over the line, according to Nate Saunders of ESPN. Ricciardo entered the 2023 season as a reserve driver for Red Bull, planning on taking the full year off, but this was an opportunity that was too good to pass up, and it puts him in contention to return to a Red Bull down the line, according to Saunders.

Ricciardo won seven races at Red Bull before leaving after the 2018 season for Renault. He had two solid seasons with Renault, with 2020 being especially strong. However, he was massively disappointing with Mclaren in 2021 and 2022, as he was far off the pace from Lando Norris.

With Sergio Perez's struggles at Red Bull over the last two years, especially recently in qualifying, there is a lot of speculation that Red Bull's second seat could open up again. If Ricciardo performs well and beats out Yuki Tsunoda for the rest of the season, he could be in line to be Max Verstappen's teammate once again.

The pressure of the second seat at Red Bull is immense, and it seems to be mounting for Sergio Perez. If Ricciardo proves to still have pace, he could be a good fit to return as an experienced driver who might be more content to just be on a top team again than he was back in 2018, even if it is as a No. 2 driver.

Ricciardo's return will be an intriguing story to watch in a year where Max Verstappen and Red Bull are once again running away with the driver's and constructor's championships.