Daniel Ricciardo, in 2022 saw an unfateful end to his McLaren career. The Australian race driver was asked to leave even though he had one year left in his running contract with them.
He received a handsome sum to release his spot, only for his compatriot Oscar Piastri to take his place. Ricciardo, in the process, also realized that he shouldn’t have a drive in 2023 and wants to have a sabbatical.
Though, he isn’t away from F1 entirely. This year, he has already signed up with Red Bull as a third driver and could have some odd free practice appearances while appearing in their commercial activities.
69 weeks ago, Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix. nice. pic.twitter.com/gYMJjZpWNP
— Bhums³ (@danricc_3) January 11, 2023
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Daniel Ricciardo was informed by journalists that he was out
When McLaren was in a skirmish against Alpine for Piastri, it came to the surface that the former F2 champion already had an agreement with the Woking-based team since last summer.
Thus, the fans questioned McLaren why Ricciardo was kept in the dark for so long. As his news of going out during the dying days of the last season. Fans even remarked how Ricciardo publicly brushed his axing rumours in the summer and declared he’s dedicated to McLaren till the contract end.
This statement was seen as a mark of loyalty by Ricciardo, which his followers believe wasn’t reciprocated by McLaren. Still, the Papya team responded to these statements and replied that Ricciardo was informed about Piastri once McLaren agreed with the latter.
But as per George Roberts from Business F1, Ricciardo was rumoured to be informed about his exit during the Monaco Grand Prix. However, it came from an unusual source in a relatively insensitive manner. The magazine claims that the Honey badger was told about his sacking, not by Zak Brown or other key profile members.
Instead, some journalists close to Brown told Ricciardo that he’d have to leave the team. Meanwhile, Brown was in the United States to look over the important Indianapolis 500. So, he insulated himself from the possible fallout.
Not an easy decision due to Netflix
The magazine further states that Ricciardo’s sacking was slightly more tricky than believed. Since Netflix’s drive to survive was at its infancy stage, the superstars from Ferrari and Mercedes were kept out.
It was Ricciardo, who became their face, and gained a massive fanbase due to his extensive covering in season 1. He’s still a widely covered entity in the documentary. That’s why as per the commercial view, it was a complex issue to fire him, as it hurt Netflix and, in a way, McLaren too.
But the Woking-based team had made up their mind about him, and it’s a safe bet to gamble on Piastri, who can well be the biggest superstar in a few years. Coming to Netflix, at least in season 5, they’ll have his F1 exit as a topic to cover.
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