Daniel Riccardo sent to the finish line

One of the most popular current Formula 1 drivers, Daniel Ricciardo, has agreed to an early termination of his contract with McLaren. He will leave the British team at the end of the season, a year before the expiration of the agreement. The place of the Australian in McLaren is likely to be taken by his compatriot Oscar Piastri.

Rumors about the imminent parting of McLaren with one of their riders, 33-year-old Daniel Ricciardo, which had been running for several months, were confirmed on Wednesday. The parties announced that they had agreed to early termination of the contract. Ricciardo will complete the current season at McLaren, and then leave the team. Note that the Australian’s contract was calculated until the end of the 2023 championship. The parties, as is customary in such cases, thanked each other for all the good things, mentioning how pleasant it was for them to work together.

But given the background of the team-driver relationship, the obvious conclusion is that Ricciardo doesn’t just leave the team, he gets fired.

And in his place, most likely, they will take another Australian – 21-year-old Oscar Piastri.

Note that the appearance of Riccardo in McLaren last year did not go very smoothly. To the British team, an Australian got over from Renault. At the same time, his intention to leave was such a surprise for the bosses that Renault boss Cyril Abitboul even stopped talking to his driver. You can understand it. After all, the French team relied on the Australian, who in 2018, when the contract was signed with him, was considered one of the best riders in the peloton. Not surprisingly, Renault went to great lengths to pay the Australian a hefty salary of €25 million a year.

Explaining his decision to change Renault to McLaren (for the sake of changing the “stable”, the Australian even agreed to a two-fold reduction in salary), Daniel Ricciardo said what is customary to say in such situations: about new challenges, about the desire to still get a car that will allow you to really fight for victory. However, there were some difficulties with this.

Even last season, McLaren bosses began to have questions about Riccardo’s performances. Saved him the Italian Grand Prix: Riccardo won in Monza.

True, this would hardly have happened if her favorite, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen had not collided during the race. But one way or another, few would have dared to dismiss only a hired rider after winning a stage. Well, this season, Riccardo’s business went completely unimportant. In 13 races, he managed to finish in the top 10 only four times (the best result is sixth in Australia) and is currently 12th overall with 19 points. For comparison: his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris is in seventh place with 76 points. In such a situation, parting McLaren with Riccardo was only a matter of time.

As for where Riccardo will continue his career, the rider himself did not say anything on this subject, promising to clarify the issue later. But one option, as ironic as it may sound, involves moving to Alpine, aka the former Renault. There, just at the end of the season, a place will be vacated, since Fernando Alonso will move to Aston Martin in place of the retired Sebastian Vettel.

Alexander Petrov