Daniel Ricciardo’s disastrous performances with McLaren in 2021 and 2022 resulted in the team parting ways with him. The Woking team then decided to replace the 34-year-old Australian with rookie Oscar Piastri. Although McLaren’s decision to sign Piastri may have seemed bold at the time, former F1 driver Mark Webber believes that even if the team had not signed the 22-year-old, they would have still definitely replaced Ricciardo.
Speaking to the GP Racing magazine (as quoted by SoyMotor), Webber said, “It is clear that Daniel has had two very tough seasons as a McLaren driver. If Oscar had not replaced him this year, another driver would have done it“.
Ricciardo did indeed struggle massively at McLaren since his inexperienced teammate Lando Norris outperformed him in both 2021 and 2022. In 2021, Ricciardo finished eighth in the standings with 115 points. Meanwhile, Norris finished sixth with 160 points.
However, when it came to 2022, the Honey Badger had a shocking dip in performance. He finished way down in eleventh in the championship with just 37 points. In stark contrast, Norris finished seventh with 122 points.
Since the difference between the two McLaren teammates was so huge, Webber does not doubt that the team made the right decision to part ways with Ricciardo. However, the former Red Bull driver did admit that it was not easy for Piastri to replace Ricciardo since both are Australians.
“He (Piastri) said at the time that he was taking the seat away from another Australian and there aren’t many of us who have raced in Formula 1. But what can you say, it was McLaren’s decision and in the end, it was clearly the right one,” explained Webber.
Zak Brown admitted it was not easy to part ways with Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo is one of the most popular figures in the F1 paddock. People not only appreciate him for his prowess on the race track but also for his charismatic personality. Since Ricciardo has such a fantastic persona, McLaren CEO Zak Brown also admitted it was not easy for his side to part ways with the 34-year-old.
Recently speaking on the Track Limits podcast (as quoted by wtf1.com), Brown said, “Breaking up with Daniel was very difficult. You know, love Daniel. Great guy. It just didn’t work out, but that wasn’t the master plan in the end“.
Since McLaren parted ways with Ricciardo, the Australian failed to secure a race seat for the 2023 season. As a result, the Honey Badger decided to return to Red Bull at the start of 2023, but this time only as a reserve driver.
Little did he expect as well that a vacancy would open at Red Bull’s sister team, AlphaTauri after Nyck de Vries failed to live up to expectations. The Italian outfit then decided to replace the Dutchman with Ricciardo midseason.
Since Ricciardo had such a fantastic return to the grid with AlphaTauri, many criticized McLaren for their decision to part ways with the 34-year-old. However, Brown believes that fans sitting at home sometimes lack insight about what goes on behind the scenes. As a result, the McLaren CEO believes that the criticism directed towards his team for the same is unfair.
