Official: McLaren and Daniel Ricciardo to part ways at end of season

The case Piastres had very quickly foreshadowed what was going to happen at McLaren… The young Australian driver having signed a pre-contract with McLaren for 2023 – which was revealed when the 20-year-old denied his tenure with Alpine – we could easily imagine that this did not bode very well for Daniel Ricciardo.

The Australian, who joined McLaren from Renault (from now on Alpine) at the end of 2020, benefited from two years of contract plus an option for 2023, which he obviously activated. The two parties finally reached an agreement to terminate the contract of the Perth native, with financial compensation at stake. According to the Associated Press, McLaren reportedly paid $15 million to terminate the contract.

McLaren Racing and Daniel Ricciardo have mutually agreed that Daniel will leave the team at the end of the 2022 season.

The Team Thanks Daniel for His dedication and contribution, including that memorable win in monza. We look forward to finishing The Season Strongly Together.

- McLaren (@ McLarenF1) August 24

Despite his historic victory at Monza last year, the first in Formula 1 for McLaren since 2012, the Australian has performed well below the expectations that had been placed on him. The old pilot Red Bull, eight times victorious in Grand Prix, was indeed outrageously dominated by Lando Norris since his arrival in Woking. Currently 12th in the world championship and relegated 57 points behind the Briton, Daniel Ricciardo has, for two seasons, been very far from the standards he was able to offer at the time with Red Bull then with Renault. 

“It has been a privilege to be part of the McLaren family” says Ricciardo

The separation between the two parties is not surprising, as McLaren was disappointed to see Ricciardo playing at such low levels. In Monaco in particular, Zak Brown did not mince his words regarding the poor performance of his Australian driver. THE “Honey Badger”, mentally affected by his lack of performance but also by his distance from Australia because of the health crisis, never managed to get into the swing of things in Woking.

“It has been a privilege to be part of the McLaren Racing family over the past two seasons, but after several months of discussions with Zak and Andreas, we have decided to end my contract with the team early and separate each other at the end of this season, said Daniel Ricciardo in the press release published by McLaren this Wednesday. I will announce my own future plans in due course, but whatever the next chapter, I have no regrets and am proud of the effort and work I have put into McLaren, including victory at Monza, last season. »

Despite the complicated relationship with the Australian, to say the least, Zak Brown still wanted to thank his pilot. “Daniel has been a great asset to McLaren, and it has been a pleasure to work with him, said the McLaren boss. I would like to thank him for all his efforts over the last two seasons, both on the track and at the factory. It's no secret that we hoped we could achieve more together, but seeing him stand on the top step of the podium as a McLaren driver was a highlight. We wish him good luck for the future and will enjoy the rest of the season together. »

Royal road for Piastri at McLaren?

The formalization of the separation between Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren opens a royal road for the arrival of Oscar Piastri. Announced since the beginning of August in Woking, the young Australian is at the center of a legal affair between Alpine, where he has been a resident of the academy since the end of 2019, and McLaren. The champion of Formula 2, who explicitly made it known via a Twitter post that he would not be racing for the Blues in 2023, could therefore expressly join the Oranges for next season. An agreement or a judgment still needs to give it the green light...

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