Daniel Ricciardo reunited with beloved Formula One car ahead of Dutch Grand Prix as AlphaTauri star takes trip down memory lane in Amsterdam

Since returning to Formula 1 with AlphaTauri, Daniel Ricciardo has insisted he doesn’t need any extra motivation to reach his very best form, but the Australian has been reminded of just how far ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix he is.

Ricciardo, 34, made his best James Bond impression when he cruised along Amsterdam’s world-famous canals on Thursday, with his beloved STR7 car in tow.

The Western Australian announced himself as a serious talent in the Toro Rosso vehicle well over a decade ago, racking up six top 10 finishes in 2012. Those performances convinced Red Bull Racing to take a point on the then prodigious talent, who has since established himself as one of the sport’s most likeable characters.

And thanks to auction powerhouse Catawikiwhich launched the ‘A Decade of Daniel’ collection for online sale, Ricciardo was reunited with his old car in the Dutch capital.

With the picturesque Hotel de l’Europe as the perfect backdrop, Ricciardo reflected on his incredible Formula 1 journey.

The Australian made his best James Bond impression while touring the Amsterdam canals

“This is the car I spent my first full season in Formula 1 with and I haven’t seen it since. It’s been so long so it’s pretty crazy,” he said.

“The first race in Melbourne, I remember I had an incident at the start of the race and damaged the front wing and I thought maybe the race was over. But we kept coming back into the race and we took the points, so to do that at home was something special.”

Ricciardo took 10 points in his first full season in Formula 1 before doubling that number the following year. The Australian explained how his confidence in the STR7 has put him in a ‘flow’ state – something he is keen to recapture upon his return to the grid.

“I think you definitely get to a place where… you grow confidence and find the rhythm. We see it now with Max with his confidence in the car, it is almost effortless.

“When you get into this rhythm, I think there’s a flow, but you can’t take it for granted because every song is different.”

Genevieve Tearle, vice president of Catawiki’s Collectibles division, told Mail Sport: “We’ve talked to several teams, but what AlphaTauri brings is that it’s not just about today’s outfit, but the opportunity to give us the warehouse open it and see what they had.

“We found a Sebastian Vettel outfit that still has blood on it! Bringing those pieces of history to the fans is really something unique.”

Ricciardo reflected on his F1 journey after being reunited with the car ahead of the Dutch GP

While Tearle was keen to emphasize her delight in working with Ricciardo’s predecessor, Nyck de Vries, she was delighted with the Australian’s return to the grid, bringing with him 8.5 million passionate Instagram followers.

‘Daniel is such a personality, you can see that in Drive to Survive. Even when he’s not racing he still comes to the driver meetings, he has a real connection with the fans.

“He brings another dimension in terms of his connection with fans, in the same way that we saw the connection between Yuki and Japanese fans in one of our previous auctions.”

The ‘Decade of Daniel’ auction features even more unique collectibles from AlphaTauri and Toro Rosso, carefully selected by Catawiki’s motorsports experts. Other items for sale include the full gearbox from Ricciardo’s STR8 car, his Toro Rosso racing suit and a race-worn balaclava.

Fans can submit their bids until September 3, 2023, HERE. Cawatiki and AlphaTauri will hold more auctions in September, November and December this year.