Opinion
It is woefully distressing seeing one of Formula One’s brightest and most enigmatic characters endure such a puzzling slump in form, though it can’t be ignored that the drums are beating around Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren future.
Having come into 2022’s new generation of technical regulations, with optimism around McLaren making that step forward towards being a regular race winner and Ricciardo himself recapturing his best after a challenging first year at Woking, both parties have fallen short of meeting expectations.
Though said, Ricciardo’s shortcomings are far more galling.
His prodigious teammate, Lando Norris, continues to excel in a car that still needs much improvement while the 33-year-old Aussie is still without confidence in the front end of the MCL-36, his driving style as ill-suited to the car as ever.
A driver who was so decorated for his jaw-dropping racecraft and late lunges into corners for overtakes suddenly looks quite the opposite, with the eight-time race winner barely able to race his way into the top ten.
It’s hardly the form of the driver who broke through at Monza last year to end McLaren’s winless spell dating back to 2012 as well as his own barren run stretching back to his final year at Red Bull Racing at the end of 2018.
It hasn’t helped Ricciardo’s cause that his preseason testing was hamstrung by testing positive for COVID-19 and then being thrown into the deep end in Bahrain, which was the track that was harshest on the MCL36’s troubled brakes package. But there is a level of expectation on drivers of the Aussie’s experience and calibre to come to the fore here. It’s why they’re paid the handsome wages they are.
Scoring only 19 points after seven races to Norris’s 76, including a podium in Imola, there is little surprise that even McLaren CEO Zak Brown has been caught in the media answering questions about the Aussie’s future with the team in papaya.
(Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images)
“I don’t want to get into the contract, but there are mechanisms in which we are committed to each other and there are mechanisms in which we are not,” Brown said, according to The Race, ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, raising eyebrows.
Ricciardo’s existing agreement with McLaren runs to the end of 2023, so unless said mechanisms are triggered, he could very well see out a third season with the team. Whether both parties are keen to do this, though, is another question, and it is clear that if the 223 grand prix veteran cannot regain his confidence and start delivering, it will be time to move on.
That is the distressing element of this. We all want to see Ricciardo succeed with McLaren and – as dramatic as it sounds – remain in Formula One. However, through the progression of time, there is hardly any silver lining for the Aussie.
The writing may already be on the wall for Ricciardo, as prior to the midseason break the silly season was sent into overdrive as Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from Formula One, which triggered two-time world champion and former McLaren driver Fernando Alonso to switch from Alpine to Aston Martin.
Alpine were then blindsided a second time when their prodigious 21-year-old reserve driver, Oscar Piastri, contradicted a team press release to deny that he’d be taking Alonso’s place next season and insist he isn’t contracted to the team for 2023.
While nothing has been said by McLaren at this point, it is evident that they have a clear replacement for Ricciardo in 2023 in Piastri, his compatriot and the reigning F2 champion.
Many do hope, whether it is a fool’s hope or not, that Ricciardo can turn his fortunes around. The Aussie himself has referenced the renaissance of Sergio Perez as inspiration, the Mexican having lost his seat at Aston Martin in 2021 only to find refuge at the top Red Bull Racing team and take his career to new heights.
Ricciardo may have missed his window for a championship during his time at Red Bull. Despite putting in some of the sport’s best performances in 2014 and 2016, Mercedes were in another league. But he could still be of the calibre of a race winner.
Meanwhile some questions are begging for answers.
Why did he choose Renault over McLaren in 2019 only to reverse his decision in 2020 and jump ship for Woking without even having turned a wheel of that year’s French car?
Also, when Ferrari decided to axe Sebastian Vettel, what did the team see in Carlos Sainz that they didn’t see in Ricciardo?
Ricciardo could yet get a Hail Mary last chance from Alpine, which he left for McLaren barely two years ago.
Ironically that’d be possible only because of the actions of the great Fernando Alonso – who is taking his own last-ditch gamble on success – with whom Ricciardo appeared to share the unforunate trait of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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