Zak Brown has concluded that Daniel Ricciardo will continue with Mclaren in 2023 amid rumours surrounding his replacement with Oscar Piastri.
Daniel Ricciardo has witnessed a horrendous first half of the 2022 F1 Championship. He has just managed to finish 3 of the first 11 races with points. As of the 2022 Austrian GP, he is 12th in the Driver’s championship with mere 17 points.
His best result so far came in his home race in Australia. The Perth-born driver finished 6th. But in comparison, teammate Lando Norris sits 6th in the standings with 64 points. The Brit has also managed points in all but 3 races this season.
With a teammate outscoring you, there were rumours ahead of the Ricciardo, who is 33, could leave the sport. Some depicted the Aussie racing with McLaren in their Indycar team in the United States of America.
Sky Sports F1 Pundit, Ted Kravitz says there were murmurs in the F1 paddock about a driver line-up change ahead of the Austrian GP. McLaren might look to sign reigning F2 champion and reserve driver, Oscar Piastri as a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo.
Zak Brown dismissed rumours swiftly. He confirmed that Ricciardo will be staying with McLaren until the end of his contract in 2023. The team had no contact with Alpine to ‘loan in’ Piastri and McLaren was committed to both their drivers.
Brown said, “We’re going to do everything we can to get him back into his best form. We’re going to do whatever it takes for him, work incredibly hard because we know he can win us races.”
“Can he do it? That depends on the car that we give him. But what we ask of him is clear: that he drives at Lando’s level, either slightly ahead or slightly behind. We have seen that when we give him a car capable of winning, he can do it.”
Brown concluded with, “He admits that last year wasn’t a great season, but he won a race. So we have to find a way to unlock him and give him a car he feels comfortable with.”
Why Daniel Ricciardo is having a bad season
Daniel Ricciardo is no doubt having a stinker of a season. The 8-time Grand Prix winner has regularly finished out of points in most races. In fact, Ricciardo has not finished in top-5 since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP.
The Aussie said, he is not yet comfortable in the new-generation cars. Ricciardo missed out on testing ahead of the season as the Aussie contacted Covid.
But the problem far exceeds the driver as McLaren has been outpaced by other teams. The team that finished 4th in the Constructors standings in 2021 is losing the position to Alpine. Moreover, with the likes of Haas putting in good performances and McLaren suffering reliability issues, the Woking-based outfit faces stiff competition.
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