Daniel Ricciardo will leave McLaren at the end of the season after the Formula One team announced they terminated his contract early, bringing an end to speculation over the Australian’s future and paving the way for the highly rated Oscar Piastri to be offered a seat for 2023.
Despite the eight-time grand prix winner Ricciardo declaring only last month that he was committed to seeing out his contract amid questions over his place with the team, McLaren have moved to pay out the final year of the Australian’s contract.
Although the 33-year-old ended McLaren’s long wait for a grand prix victory at Monza last season, Ricciardo struggled to live up to expectations following his move from Renault and was consistently outperformed by his team-mate Lando Norris. Ricciardo sits 12th in the championship standings with nine races to go this season, which will be his final appearances with the team.
McLaren said in a statement that they will announce their plans for next season in due course but are expected to make a formal move for last season’s Formula 2 champion Piastri, with the 21-year-old turning down an offer from Alpine last month in order to keep his options open.
Ricciardo said in a video posted on Twitter that he still has the “fire in me” to race in Formula One but did not announce his next steps. Ricciardo is set to have options next season, with Alfa Romeo, Haas and Williams yet to announce their plans for 2023. Alpine, the team Ricciardo controversially left to join McLaren, have also yet to announce a replacement for Fernando Alonso after Piastri denied he had signed a contract with them for 2023.
Some fans had feared that a McLaren exit might also signal the end of Ricciardo’s F1 career, but the former Red Bull driver poured cold water on such suggestions. “The sport, I still love it; this hasn’t affected any of that,” Ricciardo said. “I still have that fire in me, that belief in my belly that I can do this at the highest level. All that stuff’s still there.”
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl acknowledged the “challenges” both the team and Ricciardo faced across the last couple of seasons, particularly after the changes to racing regulations at the start of this campaign.
“I would like to thank Daniel for his dedication and contribution over the last two seasons so far,” Seidl said. “Despite the shared challenges, he has always turned up with a fighting spirit and positivity and helped the entire team to always keep pushing forward.
“We will never forget that memorable race win in Monza which was a great boost for the whole team.”
Ricciardo said in a statement released by McLaren: “It’s been a privilege to be a part of the McLaren family for the last two seasons but following several months of discussions with [McLaren CEO] Zak [Brown] and Andreas we have decided to terminate my contract with the team early and agree to mutually part ways at the end of this season.
“I’ll be announcing my own future plans in due course but regardless of what this next chapter brings, I have no regrets and am proud of the effort and work I gave McLaren, especially the win in Monza, last season.”
The news comes ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend as Formula One returns from its summer break.
