Daniel Ricciardo joined McLaren in 2021 in a move that has turned out to be a nightmare for the eight time race winner.
On paper, a pairing of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris looked too good to be true. However, with time it became evident that things were just not working out for the former in Woking.
Norris comprehensively outperformed Ricciardo, and other than the Aussie’s one race win in Monza last season, has completely outshined him. All of this forced McLaren to pull the trigger and terminated Ricciardo’s contract.
McLaren have told Daniel Ricciardo they intend to replace him with Oscar Piastri next season, a source has confirmed to ESPN.
✍️ Full story from @natesaundersF1: https://t.co/QQZDLc34hd pic.twitter.com/NRO9txVVU6
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) August 5, 2022
Now that Oscar Piastri has confirmed he won’t be with Alpine next year, his move to McLaren seems closer than ever. This means Ricciardo remains without a seat potentially, in spite of his current deal expiring in 2023.
A lot of fans feel Ricciardo is being treated unfairly, and deserves more respect. Older F1 fans remembered and pointed out, that this is a situation that they had seen before.
Daniel Ricciardo joins Sergio Perez, Stoffel Vandoorne and Kevin Magnussen
Ricciardo has not performed well in McLaren. That is a fact that even the 33-year old has not tried to dismiss. His difference to Norris has been a key weak point, in their battle for P4 against Alpine.
However, the manner in which he is being shown the door does not sit right with some F1 fans. They also remember how Kevin Magnussen was sacked from the team on his birthday.
We’ve been here before… will we ever learn pic.twitter.com/m79AWuLQwk
— h0ly.macnchəəse.ba!!s (@no_drink_kimii) August 6, 2022
Stoffel Vandoorne, who was teammates with Fernando Alonso was also wary of the internal politics at McLaren. After leaving the Surrey based outfit, he revealed multiple times how the environment there had affected his short F1 career severely.
Only smart drivers to leave before it was too late was Hamilton, Hakkinen and Raikonnen albeit he missed two potential titles to poor car reliability
— Ravi S. (@RaviBeingRavi) August 6, 2022
McLaren as a team have not been shy of controversy in the past. They were involved in arguably the biggest F1 scandal of all time in the form of ‘Spygate‘.
The British team looked like they were on the up a couple of years ago. However, their inability to cope well with the regulation changes this season, may have severely halted their progress.
Also read: How Kimi Raikkonen’s manager plotted Michael Schumacher exit from Ferrari
