In one respect, the neatest solution would be for him to take over the seat intended for Piastri at Alpine. The jigsaw fits together and everyone gets what they want, right? On paper perhaps, but things are always much more of a mess in practice. After all, Ricciardo is no stranger to Enstone, having worked there for what was then the Renault works team from 2019 until 2020 after he left Red Bull.
But the team was hurt by his decision to move on to McLaren in 2021 and have reason to doubt his commitment to Alpine's legendary 100-race plan to start winning races and vying for a championship, while for Ricciardo it could prove to be a humbling if not humiliating come down. Not to mention the money, which would be a lot less than he's currently getting at McLaren and a fraction of the $25 million per year he reportedly made in his previous stint at Enstone.
But for both parties it might be the best deal left on the table. There's no other team left on the grid that really offers an appealing prospect to Ricciardo; and to be brutally frank, Ricciardo himself is somewhat 'damaged goods' after his stuttering time at McLaren has made him look past his sell by date, so who would want him? He remains as popular a person in the F1 paddock as ever, but the hard nosed business people who make this sort of decision aren't swayed by his trademark high-beam smile and only look at results. And in this case the results aren't there to justify signing him.
It seems he has a fan in Szafnauer at least who was unconcerned about Ricciardo's struggles. "I don't think that's an issue at all. I think what we need to focus on are the plans that we have for the next 89-88 races," he said on Tuesday evening. “We've got to make sure that we complement that plan with the best driver that we can, and there are some options out there for us. And we put the best driver in next to Esteban, so that we can move forward towards what we've been planning.”
Alpine certainly faces a big public relations headache after having had not one but two highly rated drivers abruptly turn their backs on the team this week. They need a credible replacement, and quickly. After Alonso's announcement on Monday (but before the follow-up stories on Tuesday) F1 pundits were busy making suggestions for who could take over the seat, and while Piastri was the obvious run-away favourite there were other names mentioned who may now come into play.
