This week, McLaren has finally begun to trim down a bit on its expansive driver roster, agreeing to buy out Daniel Ricciardo’s contract to end their relationship one year early.
The Australian will remain with the team for the final nine races of the 2022 season before being cut completely free of his contract. The reality is that the driver of the No. 3 was never really a great fit for the Woking outfit, being brought in to either lead the team or at least serve as a good measuring stick for teammate Lando Norris. Instead, barring a surprise win last year at Monza (which serves as the lone Formula 1 win on record for McLaren in the last ten years), Ricciardo has typically struggled against his teammate.
A disappointing 2021 outing could be blamed on putting everything into the new regulations for 2022, but instead, the gap between the papaya orange cars have gotten larger. Ricciardo finished 45 points back of Norris in 2021; he’s currently 57 points back of Norris in 2022, which is actually worse than it looks because Norris and the team are on pace for much less points in 2022 than they were in 2021.
It’s very strange to see this happen to Ricciardo. Norris has definitely taken a step up recently, but that doesn’t really explain such a massive gap between the two given Ricciardo’s resume.
Although Ricciardo surely got paid (it’s unclear if he got the reported $21 million he was looking for to break the contract), it’s the best thing for his own career to leave McLaren behind. The driver just turned 33 and his dream of someday winning a World Drivers Championship wasn’t going to be realized at McLaren, where he’d have spent next year almost surely serving as Norris’ sidekick instead of his peer.
Although McLaren seemingly has their driver with Oscar Piastri and look to be moving forward with him, the FIA may still rule against them and in favor of Alpine in their dispute. But if they are willing to dump millions into cutting Ricciardo’s contract, I can’t imagine they wouldn’t do whatever is needed to break Piastri of his deal with Alpine if that is ruled still valid.
Ricciardo should and will be contacted with a ton of offers. His status as one of the F1 grid’s most charismatic and popular drivers, while still being relatively young given his experience, will make him a hot commodity in a number of different series, if he plays his cards right:
Formula 1
Obviously the clear choice for Ricciardo, given his commitment to…
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