One of the biggest news breaks in the F1 circuits was when Alpha Tauri announces that Red Bull's reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo would be driving for them in place of rookie racer Nyck de Vries from the upcoming Hungarian GP on Sunday, July 23.
While such changes are rare to come by nowadays, there have been instances even involving the fastest drivers in past and present F1 records. Here, we look at five such mid-season swaps.
Daniel Ricciardo to Alpha Tauri
Ricciardo has spent the whole season on the sidelines as Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have dominated the Championships, but his eagerness to get back on the circuit was revealed when during a tyre test at Silverstone on Tuesday. This is two days after the British Grand Prix where de Vries finished 17th and last.
This performance in the test was commended by Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who said, "It was a very impressive drive, and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at Scuderia AlphaTauri."
Nyck de Vries has not scored a single point as Alpha Tauri have struggled this season, and this move might also indicate a change at Red Bull, with Ricciardo taking Sergio Perez's place with the Mexican now 99 points behind Verstappen.
Alex Albon takes Pierre Gasly's place at Red Bull
Alex Albon's introduction to F1 racing was really impressive after his rookie season began with Toro Rosso but ended with Red Bull. He replaced another Toro Rosso product Pierre Gasly after the Frenchman was unable to live up to the Red Bull standard. Albon was impressive in his first half-season considering the fact that he was racing in Formula E a few months before but was unable to get a handle on the fast build of the RB16, developed to suit Verstappen's driving style.
Albon managed two podiums but was swiftly replaced by Sergio Perez, who has been their constant second driver alongside the mighty Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz leaves Toro Rosso to replace Jolyon Palmer
Then racing for Lotus, Jolyon Palmer was the reserve driver, and when the team was taken over by Renault, Palmer earned his F1 debut the team alongside Kevin Magnussen. He only managed one point with a poor car in the 2016 campaign and was no different with a much-improved car for the 2017 season.
This forced the hand of the management, and soon, Renault's move for then Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz was brought forward and the second-generation Palmer was dropped for the US Grand Prix at Austin. After one season, Sainz spent the next two F1 campaigns at McLaren, before partnering Charles Leclerc at Ferrari.
Max Verstappen takes Daniil Kyvat's seat at Red Bull
Daniil Kvyat was Sebastian Vettel's replacement at Red Bull and was in good form heading into his second season with the outfit. However, the team was keen to promote the young Dutchman Max Verstappen after an impressive first year at Toro Rosso and a crash with Vettel at Sochi ended his time with the UK-Based outfit.
He was relegated to Toro Rosso for the following Spanish Grand Prix for Verstappen. This decision raised a lot of eyebrows then but Red Bull's willingness to pull the trigger worked out in their favour as Verstappen won his first race with the team at Barcelona. Since then, Verstappen has taken the circuit by storm, winning two championships and is currently on course for his third by a landslide.
Michael Schumacher poached by Benetton... And the rest is history!
In 1991, Roberto Moreno was second to Nelson Piquet on the circuit for Benetton and was not able to live up to the hype. At the Belgian Grand Prix, Moreno finished fourth, but one young racer for Jordan caught their eyes. The 22-year-old was brought into the team in the very next race although it took him a year to win his first race, ironically at the Belgian Grand Prix that earned him a move to Benetton.
Soon after, the Schumacher legend began as the German won the 1994 and 1995 world championships at the team before moving to Ferrari in 1996 to prepare for five years of dominance.
