After a disappointing start to his second season at McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo indicated he is prepared to see out the third year of his deal but he is reluctant to accept the results he’s had in recent events.
He joined McLaren from Renault last season on a three-year deal. His victory in Monza last year was one of few high points in a difficult start to life at the team and there have been few signs of improvement so far in 2022.Yesterday Ricciardo qualified 14th on the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix, nine places behind team mate Lando Norris, who lapped him in this race last year.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown acknowledged last week that Ricciardo’s performances haven’t reached the level the team expected when they signed him, prompting speculation over whether his deal could be cut short.
“I do have a contract in place,” Ricciardo confirmed yesterday. “But personally, I don’t want to be 14th, that’s not why I race, let’s put it like that.”
“I still, obviously, even after a day like today, have 100% belief in myself and ability,” he said. “[That] probably makes the result like this hurt more.
“So that’s kind of where I feel or how I feel. It’s one of those things you just got to keep going. I would love to be in a different position, but I refuse to let it beat me down.”
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl said they were committed to helping Ricciardo improve his confidence with their car in order to get the best out of it.
“We have a contract in place with Daniel also going into the next year,” he said. “We’ll use all our energy and our focus in order to find these last percentages.”
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praxis (@praxis)
29th May 2022, 7:22
Where could Daniel potentially go after McLaren? Williams? Alfa Romeo?
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
29th May 2022, 8:01
V8 supercars
Nitzo (@webtel)
29th May 2022, 8:26
@praxis
I had a wild idea that maybe more mainstream than i think it is…
beyond contractual obligations, i am able to imagine a world where Aston and Mclaren and engage in a direct swap–Sebastian for Daniel. The only significant catch/constraint that i foresee is that Daniel may need to take a pay cut for this to happen so that Aston can benefit monetary wise and also get his experience, and Mclaren can sort of pay Vettel the same amount that they were paying Daniel and get a better driver…sort of a win-win.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
29th May 2022, 8:20
Pundit.
Ruben
29th May 2022, 9:01
Red Bull have their 2 drivers now with Perez performing much closer to Max compared to last year.
Mercedes if Lewis goes but they can get anyone better. You don’t say no to a Mercedes seat despite their current slump.
Ferrari has Leclerc as the ‘Chosen One’ so he’ll be back in the same situation he left Red Bull as a #2.
Alpine has Piastri waiting.
Alpha Tauri is a no go.
Alfa Romeo has the best version of Bottas ever right now and money through Zhou.
Haas maybe if Schumacher keeps losing to K-Mag?
Aston when Vettel retires?
Williams? He might as well retire there and then.
Imre (@f1mre)
29th May 2022, 10:35
W Series. sHe might win there.
Electroball76
29th May 2022, 10:59
Deliveroo?
Jere (@jerejj)
29th May 2022, 11:12
@praxis Certainly, no Alfa as Pouchaire is a clear priority in any driver change scenario.
Williams, possibly also Aston. The rest are pretty unviable for him.
Vicentius (@vicentius)
29th May 2022, 12:32
Formula E
mooa42
30th May 2022, 5:43
Indycars!!
Straight swap in the McLaren family with Pat O’Ward. America already seems to be on the Daniel train, and Pat seems to have some decent talent.
Adrian
29th May 2022, 7:30
Something just does not seem right. Ricc. had no problem making the transition from V8 spec to the generation of cars just gone, and he had no problem seeing the Hulk off at Renault in a new car. So making a transition to the unfamiliar has not been an issue in the past.
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
29th May 2022, 7:35
Yea there is something inherently bad in the McLaren that makes it an absolute dog to drive.
David (@nvherman)
29th May 2022, 7:53
@homerlovesbeer yet his team mate is yet again significantly closer to the front of the grid, and was 0.7s faster in Q2 when Ricciardo was eliminated.
Look at last week: Norris finished 4 places higher despite suffering tonsillitis.
Not sure how many more excuses his fans can make for him
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th May 2022, 8:09
I wouldn’t call myself a fan, I just can’t explain this performance compared to his red bull performance, it’s not in line, such a driver wouldn’t have been a match for verstappen on occasion back then.
BlasterMaster
29th May 2022, 8:17
I’ve got the feeling that the GRO fireball/crash in Bahrain marked a turning point mentally for RIC. He just hasn’t been the same since.
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
29th May 2022, 9:49
Rubbish.
MAAGALAM Harsha Vardhan
31st May 2022, 12:02
What are you suggesting ? Drivers see crashes all weekend
Sham (@sham)
29th May 2022, 8:04
I like Ricciardo. I do.
But the only team mates I recall that he has beaten were Vettel (who has been distinctly average since the loss of blown diffusers) and the Hulk (who is just distinctly average). Both are top blokes, but hardly at the very top.
Norris is the real deal, probably, as is Verstappen and I’m afraid that Ricciardo is good, but just not that good, meaning he ends up looking poor. It doesn’t matter how much he believes in himself, if the results are consistently bad.
Aas
29th May 2022, 8:27
His time at McLaren is not a reflection of his career before where he was legitimately considered one of the best in the field. It took Max 2 years to finally put him away, and that in part due to Ric already being out the door. Hulk pretty much matched Perez over a 3 year period and Perez is now out qualifying Max in Monaco. Hulk beat Sainz who had the edge on Norris in their time together and Danny destroyed Ocon and Alonso is showing that’s not easy. There’s a quality driver there, I hope we see it again. He wouldn’t be the first whose careers got destroyed at McLaren.
Iosif (@afonic)
29th May 2022, 8:33
He also destroyed Ocon and was much closer to Verstappen than he is to Norris the past two years. Unless Norris is that much better than Verstappen, the gap doesn’t make sense. People seem to forget that he has 8 wins while never having the faster car through a season.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
29th May 2022, 10:25
I never really saw the domination that Verstappen allegedly had over Danny Ric. I have watched the races, seen the stats, and I still believe that they were pretty well matched at the time.
One may look at my comments and believe I am a DR fan and therefor biased. The former is true, yes. But I can equally see that Dan is clearly nowhere near Lando. And it has now been long enough to question whether he has what is required anymore.
I hope I am wrong.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
29th May 2022, 10:22
A tip for you, Daniel:
Drive faster.
Nell (@imabouttogoham)
29th May 2022, 10:54
His strengths just hasn’t matched the Mclaren and the new formula. Shame, but I think it’s better to jump onto something else. He may not want to stay in the Mclaren stable should he be replaced, but the top Indy teams should be clamouring for someone with his resume and reputation.
Electroball76
29th May 2022, 11:04
He’s a big fan of NASCAR, so that could be a serious option
Imre (@f1mre)
29th May 2022, 12:20
The old formula McLaren didn’t match him either. This is not a sign of a top top driver.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
29th May 2022, 11:06
Oh dear. The ominous “I have a contract”…
Mooa42
30th May 2022, 5:47
coupled with
…team principal Andreas Seidl said they were committed to helping Ricciardo improve his confidence.
In Red Bull that was code for “we will give him 3 or four races and then he’s out”
EB (@ebchicago)
29th May 2022, 11:24
Last year the gap to Norris made some sense, with the car having some idiosyncrasies Riccardo wasn’t used to that Norris was but this is an all new car, I’m at a bit of a loss how big the gap is that is still there. Sure Norris might just be better, the surprise isn’t that he is ahead but I’m shocked how far ahead. I still think Riccardo is a top guy but change might be best for both sides of he can’t get on top of the car.
Mayrton
29th May 2022, 12:38
Maybe we value Ricciardo by a wrong view of Vettel.
MattJ
29th May 2022, 18:53
Herta will be in that car next year if he has the super license points.
Barra
1st June 2022, 11:37
Colton Herta results for last 5 races of Indy 2022 season. 30th, 1st, 10th, 23rd, 12th.
Marcus Ericsson results for last 5 races of Indy 2022 season. 1st, 4th, 12th, 22nd, 3rd.
If Herta can’t outperform an F1 discard he will quickly become the next Latifi, Mazepin etc.
McLaren are doomed. Lando needs to get out of there and get into Hamilton’s Merc seat in 2023.
Barra
29th May 2022, 23:43
McLaren are the next Williams. Norris has been there all this time and doesn’t look any closer to winning races. Now they are talking about replacing an experienced guy with a kid most likely to appeal to US sponsors (sounds like the Mazepan deal). I’d be getting out of there in any event.