Daniel Ricciardo was signed by McLaren for the 2021 season, with the hope to be a team leader over British youngster, Lando Norris. However, it seems the Australian hasn’t lived up to Mclaren’s expectations.
2021 Season
In the first round in Bahrain, McLaren had a strong car as Lando Norris finished P4, on debut for the team, Ricciardo finished P7. It seemed fine at the time that Norris beat the Australian as it was his first time in the car.
However it wasn’t until round 4 at the Spanish Grand Prix where Ricciardo bested his teammate finishing P6 and then it wasn’t until round 11 where Ricciardo beat his teammate as Norris was taken out in a first lap incident.
At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, Ricciardo’s luck changed as he was running third until the 2 leaders of Hamilton and Verstappen collided at the turn 1/2 chicane. Ricciardo won the race followed by teammate Norris to complete a McLaren 1-2.
At the end of the championship, Norris finished 6th with 160 points whereas Ricciardo finished 8th with 115 points. Norris achieved 3 podiums and Ricciardo only achieved 1 which was his win in Monza.
2022 Season (so far)
After the slightly disappointing 2021 season, both McLaren and Ricciardo would of been hoping for better 2022 especially with the new regulations. Unfortunately, McLaren finished P14 for Ricciardo and P15 for Norris at the opening round.
At the next round, things looked better for McLaren as Norris was able to achieve P7 in Jeddah but Ricciardo retired from the race. At his home Grand Prix, Ricciardo finished behind his teammate in P6 once more as Norris finished P5.
In Imola, Norris achieved a podium whereas Ricciardo finished last of the running cars and in Miami, both McLaren cars struggled for pace. In both the Spanish and Monaco GP, Norris was able to score points whereas Ricciardo failed to do so which raises questions on Ricciardo‘s future.
McLaren’s Options
McLaren have quite a few options if they were to replace Ricciardo and one of the drivers is on the current f1 grid. Alpha Tauri driver, Pierre Gasly, contract is running out at the end of the season and with Red Bull driver Sergio Perez extending his contract until the end of 2024, he will be looking to leave the Red Bull program in 2023 or 2024.
McLaren could also look at bringing Oscar Piastri who is currently the Alpine Reserve Driver. The Alpine team are looking to loan the driver out for the 2023 championship as it looks more likely Fernando Alonso will continue for at least another year.
Another driver who’s contract is running out is 4 time champion Sebastian Vettel. McLaren may look to sign the German who may live up to the team leader roll that Ricciardo was expected to for fill.
In Indy Car, McLaren driver Pato O'Ward has been impressive this season and could be a candidate for the McLaren seat if Ricciardo were to get moved aside.