Daniel Ricciardo's exile from Formula One is over with the veteran Australian driver set to be back on the grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix a week on Sunday.
In the short-term, the eight-time grand prix winner will replace Nyck de Vries at Red Bull's junior team AlphaTauri for the rest of the season.
In the longer term, the move could lead to him joining the all-conquering Red Bull main team again as world champion Max Verstappen's No.2 - an outcome he recently said would be a "fairytale ending" to his career.
It is a remarkable comeback for the 34-year-old who was axed by McLaren at the end of last year - and replaced by another Australian Oscar Piastri - after two underwhelming seasons which included one shining moment, victory at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
Unable to find a drive this year, Ricciardo wound up as a reserve driver for Red Bull, for whom he had won seven grands prix.
But he so impressed in the support role that the organisation have opted for him to replace de Vries, who has been dropped after only 10 races.
With Piastri in Ricciardo's old seat at McLaren there are now two Australian racers in Formula One for the first time since Ricciardo and Mark Webber were both on the grid a decade ago.
"I'm stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family," said Ricciardo on Tuesday.
"I'm very pleased to welcome Daniel back into the team," Alpha Tauri team principal Franz Tost said.
"There's no doubt about his driving skills, and he already knows many of us, so his integration will be easy and straight forward.
"The team will also profit a lot from his experience, as he is an eight-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner."
The reference to Ricciardo's easy integration into the team is especially relevant with Sergio Perez's poor form fuelling speculation that he may be replaced.
The West Australian is now in prime position to stake a claim to be the beneficiary were that to happen.
It won't be hard to improve on de Vries who failed to score a single point with a best finish of 12th at the Monaco Grand Prix in May.
Ricciardo's appointment came the same day as he was back in the cockpit at Silverstone doing tyre testing, following work in the simulator.
"It is great to see Daniel hasn't lost any form while away from racing," said Red Bull principal Christian Horner.
"We are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at Scuderia AlphaTauri."
AlphaTauri are last in the standings with just two points from 10 races.
Ricciardo began his F1 career with HRT Racing in 2011 before he joined AlphaTauri, then called Toro Rosso, in 2012.
He made a surprise switch to Renault in 2019, but after two years - and two podium finishes - he moved to McLaren.
Now he finds himself back with the group where he has had the most success.
with agencies
