McLaren F1, Daniel Ricciardo Racing Divorce Could Lead to More Seat Changes

Daniel Ricciardo’s surprise departure from McLaren—just two months after getting a vote of confidence from McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown—and his expected replacement by Oscar Piastri, changes the dynamic at several teams in Formula 1.

Autoweek dissects the fallout.

Why didn’t it work for Ricciardo?

Ricciardo joined McLaren on a three-year deal in 2021, with his stock high, but a termination after 18 months shows how matters went south rather quickly,

Ricciardo was never fully able to marry his natural driving style to the technique required to extract the maximum from McLaren’s machinery. Aside from that standout day and victory at Monza last September, Ricciardo has been anonymous in Formula 1’s midfield, regularly trailing teammate Lando Norris.

“Daniel has said many times that he just never felt fully comfortable in our car, especially when it was about pushing the car to the absolute limit,” said McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl. “That was, in the end, causing the lap time difference to Lando. At the same time, we have technology that tells us Lando is an outstanding driver, so he was up against one of the best ones in the paddock. This in the end led us to the decision. He just didn't get to work in the end.

"For a driver being able to extract the performance from the car is a team effort between the driver and the team, so I just want to be clear as well that I fully take the responsibility of being in charge of the team that couldn't find the magic in order to find these percentages that we were seeing from time to time.”

An Amicable Separation

Ricciardo gave a heartfelt defense in his desire to see through the project with McLaren as recently as late July, but the writing was already on the wall by that stage.

Autoweek understands McLaren seriously began exploring options several weeks beforehand, cognizant that matters may not improve. It is believed Ricciardo was informed that McLaren intended not to continue into 2023 after the Hungarian Grand Prix, prior to the summer break, with a settlement eventually agreed during the hiatus period.

“I think he understands and accepts that together we weren't able to put together the results that he'd hoped for,” said McLaren CEO Zak Brown. “He's been around motor racing his entire life and he is as disappointed as we are that it didn't work out. But it's all been very amicable, he gets it, and we hope he lands in a good race car next year and we see Daniel back to the form that we know he is capable of. I’m going to look back with some very fond memories, some fun times together. There’s absolutely no ill will between us. We might see him being a pain for us on the race track, and that will be fun because he’s a great competitor.”

Added Seidl: “The respect I’m having for the person of Daniel Ricciardo, but also the race driver, hasn’t changed. I’m still convinced that he is one of the best ones around in this paddock. In the end, with him joining the team two-and-a-half years ago, with everything he brought to the team as well, with all of his experience also, it definitely helped us a lot to become in the end, a better team. I always really appreciated a lot his positivity and his enthusiasm, his help also. Helping me in difficult situations like at the start of this season when we had some tough times going into the first race. He never gave up and helped me also to keep the team in a good shape, helped me to keep the team motivated and stay flat-out, in order to not give up. That’s something I will definitely miss from him.”

As for Ricciardo, he admits that he's been working for some time to fix the problems that were keeping him from raising his game.

“We’ve been in dialogue for really the last few months,” said Ricciardo on the situation. “As a collective, it was ‘how can we still make this work’, I was giving feedback, there was a lot of dialogue, I understood it was a point of concern as the results I was getting were not up to the level we all thought they could have been. We did talk, certainly I want to say for months, about ways of rectifying the issues. But it was also ‘what’s next, what’s now’, we came to a dead end where we felt like we’d exhausted most things in reach at the time, and that’s when obviously they made a decision.”

What now for McLaren?

There has been no official communication, but all signs point to Ricciardo’s replacement being 21-year-old compatriot Oscar Piastri.

The back-to-back Formula 3 and Formula 2 champion has been an Alpine junior, but has also acted as McLaren’s reserve, which was initially a gesture of goodwill from Alpine. Autoweek understands that the initial plan was for Piastri to spend 2023 as McLaren reserve before stepping up to a race seat for 2024, but Ricciardo’s poor performances has likely moved up that timeline.

It is a bold leap by both parties. For McLaren, it has put its trust in a driver who, while holding a prolific junior record, has yet to even participate in an FP1 session. It is also a subtle acknowledgement from McLaren that its quest to return to the front will take longer than anticipated, as it is willing to dispense with an eight-time race winner (albeit one struggling) in order to bring in a rookie.

Piastri, as with any newcomer, will take time to learn the ropes of Formula 1.

For Piastri it, too, is a leap of faith. While when the decision was made there was no seat at Alpine, he has effectively rejected the company that has got him to this stage, while diving into a McLaren team in which Ricciardo has failed. The intriguing subplot is he is effectively taking a seat previously occupied by his very popular compatriot, meaning public opinion is not yet on his side.

Piastri has to get on top of a package a driver of Ricciardo’s calibre could not master, and must do so against a talented driver in Norris who is fully embedded within McLaren. Unlike Ricciardo, Piastri does not have a prolific Formula 1 record to fall back upon if he struggles versus Norris.

Ricciardo's Next Stop

McLaren floated the possibility of switching Ricciardo to its IndyCar program but that was ultimately a short-lived idea.

Ricciardo has emphasized that he still sees his future within Formula 1 and not elsewhere – though his options are understandably limited, and his stock is lower than when negotiating previous lucrative deals with Renault (in 2018) and McLaren (in 2020). He was open to the idea of taking a sabbatical if the right chance doesn’t align.

“No one has a perfect career,” said Ricciardo. “For sure this is another hurdle, but if I want to pick myself up, I will. That fire, that belief, is still in me. If I want to make that choice I can. Obviously I don’t have every option on the grid, it’s not like I can race wherever I want.”

There is a logic to a reunion with Alpine. For all of the team’s off-track dramas, there has been tangible on-track progress, amid CEO Laurent Rossi’s 100-race plan to propel the team to the top. Upgrades introduced have worked and Alpine gradually reeled in before overhauling McLaren. Ricciardo’s exit was not well received by the team in 2020, but that was under previous management, before the arrival of Rossi, Renault CEO Luca de Meo, and Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer.

No announcement will be forthcoming until Alpine/Piastri situation is decided, with Alpine understood to be willing to go to court to settle matters.

A Possible Open Door for American Logan Sargeant

Alpine and Williams F1 teams had been working on a loan arrangement for Piastri to race at Williams in 2023, but the Australian was never keen on such a situation. That means Williams has a vacancy alongside Alexander Albon, who newly re-signed on a multi-year deal.

Ostensibly that is good news for incumbent Nicholas Latifi and American youngster Logan Sargeant, with Piastri out of the picture at Grove. Latifi had an awful start to his third season with Williams, with a spate of incidents, while he was completely lost with the FW44, a situation that reached a nadir at home in Canada.

Yet Latifi has been comparatively stronger in recent grands prix, making Q3 in Britain and running competitively in the race, while he finally received the upgraded package in France. A door that had previously been slammed shut is now ajar once more for 2023, and his sizeable funding is not a bad carrot to have in his corner.

Sargeant is third in the Formula 2 standings and has impressed Williams with his development through 2022, though faces a crucial run of three events in three weekends. Further immersion within Williams across the ‘flyaway’ Grands Prix, and an FP1 run in Austin, will give him more chances to catch the team’s eye. Williams is ostensibly in no hurry to finalize its driver line-up given it is one of the few teams with an open slot.

Next Up for Alpine’s Academy

Alpine’s young driver academy, formerly known as Renault, was revived upon Group Renault’s full-scale return in 2016, and the defection of Piastri is a substantial blow.

It looked as if Piastri was going to be the driver to finally justify the team’s commitment in unearthing and developing prospective talents, similar to how the likes of Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren have nurtured youngsters, financed their careers, and then reaped the reward long-term.

Alpine has never appeared to have a long-term plan for its youngsters and, despite having huge faith in Piastri, was unable to provide him with a seat in either 2022 or 2023 (until Alonso’s shock exit) and could not exactly make promises about 2024.

Piastri’s two Alpine stablemates from 2021, Christian Lundgaard and Zhou Guanyu, are now building their careers elsewhere. Lundgaard has been IndyCar’s standout rookie while Zhou is in the midst of a competent first season with Alfa Romeo in Formula 1.

Alpine can be proud of the role it has played in the development of these drivers, and previous members of its scheme, but what’s the point now if its brightest talent won’t sit in Alpine’s F1 car?