Ricciardo out as Piastri contract war rumbles on
Mclaren has confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo will leave the team at the end of this season as it awaits a ruling on Oscar Piastri’s contract with Alpine.
Ricciardo and Mclaren announced the news shortly before the F1 paddock arrived at Spa for last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, bringing to an end two difficult years for the Australian at the Woking team. He joined Mclaren in 2021 on a three-year contract. While he gave the team its first win for nearly nine years at Monza last September, that proved to be an outlier result as he struggled to match the form of team-mate Lando Norris.
Mclaren has paid off Ricciardo for the final year of his deal and set its sights on reigning FIA F2 champion and Alpine F1 protege Piastri, who finds himself at the centre of a contract saga and was initially announced by Alpine as a race driver for the 2023 season.
A hearing was held by F1’s Contract Recognition Board on Monday, the outcome of which remained unconfirmed by the time Autosport went to print. But should it rule in Alpine’s favour, then Mclaren would need to strike a deal to free Piastri from his contract and sign him for 2023.
Ricciardo admitted he had reached a “dead end” with Mclaren as they tried to work out why he was struggling so much with the car. “The results I was getting were not up to the level that we all thought they could have been,” said the 33-year-old. “We did talk for months about it, and ways to try and rectify the issues. We felt like we’d exhausted most things that were at least in reach at the time, and that’s when obviously they made a decision.”
Team principal Andreas Seidl admitted it was a “sad day” for Mclaren, and that the team had to accept its responsibility in failing to make things work with Ricciardo. “In order to perform on track for a driver it needs teamwork between the driver and the team,” he said. “The fact is we simply didn’t get it to work. We have to acknowledge that.”
As Mclaren looks to swap one Australian for another in the form of Piastri, Ricciardo said there were no hard feelings with his compatriot or the 21-year-old’s manager, Mark Webber, calling it “typical F1 business”.
While Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer stressed that the team would have to wait for the CRB ruling before making any calls on its next steps, he said he wished Piastri had “a bit more integrity” in the dispute. Szafnauer claimed he told Piastri during a simulator run that he would be getting the seat for 2023 and that Piastri “smiled and was thankful”, but the team did not have time to get a quote for his press release.