Daniel Ricciardo ‘a broken man’ amid fears he will quit F1

Daniel Ricciardo is ‘almost unrecognisable’ and ‘a broken man’ according to those in F1 that know him best as fears grow he is lost to the sport and will not drive in 2023.

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and McLaren

An F1 legend fears Daniel Ricciardo will be lost to F1 after having his contract terminated and described the Aussie’s demeanour at the Belgium GP as that of a “broken man”.

Ricciardo finished a disappointing 15th at Spa in his first race since announcing he and McLaren would part ways at the end of the 2022 season.

The Australian started seventh on the grid at Spa and was in points contention before a team decision to undercut with teammate Lando Norris late in the race backfired and the pair tumbled out of the top-10.

It was another disappointing weekend for Ricciardo who even by his own admission does not know what 2023 and beyond holds.

While many of the veteran drivers lamented the manner in which he had been treated by McLaren and insisted the sport would not be right without the 33-year-old on the grid, Martin Brundle said he had big concerns for his future.

“I’m not enjoying watching Daniel,” he said on Sky Sports.

“It’s painful isn’t it. I consider him a friend and I rate him massively as a person and a racing driver.

Daniel Ricciardo struggled in the Belgian Grand Prix. Picture: AFP

“If I was McLaren I would have been doing the same thing because he’s struggling to get pace and you can’t take that for another 18 months. I would have done exactly the same thing. How they’ve done it — they’ve made an agreement, this is a tough business.’

“Daniel didn’t convince me that he wanted to stay on the grid, that he wanted to go to Alpine or anywhere else.

“I think he potentially does, but I saw a bit of a broken man, I didn’t see ‘I’m going to win a race this year, I am going to be on the grid next year. I’ll show them they’ve made the wrong decision here’.”

Brundle was not the only big name to lament Ricciardo’s situation.

His former boss Christian Horner said he was unrecognisable from the man that drove at Red Bull between 2014 and 2018.

“I don’t recognise him as the same driver that he was when he was with us,” Horner said.

“He’s one of the best guys out there. He’s definitely got that capability. I hope he finds a seat in Formula 1. I hope he finds his mojo.

“If you think back to some of the races he drove for us, (like) winning Monaco Grand Prix with 50 per cent of the power, he put in some amazing performances.

“You have to think when he was alongside Seb (Vettel), when he first came into the team, how he delivered, how close he was obviously with Max (Verstappen) as well.

“So obviously it’s tough for him, but I really hope that he finds something for the future.”

WHAT NEXT FOR RICCIARDO?

A number of options remain open for Ricciardo. Haas have made contact and conversations are believed to be on going while Alpine, Alfa Romeo and Williams also have seats.

A reunion with Alpine – formerly Renault – is considered Ricciardo’s best option, though reports out of Belgium suggest Pierre Gasly is the frontrunner to fill Fernando Alonso’s vacated seat.

Ricciardo boasts a superior resume to the AlphaTauri driver, however Gasly would make for an all-French pairing with incumbent Alpine driver Esteban Ocon which could entice the French team.

The eight-time race winner said he had fielded plenty of phone calls this week but would not rush any decision about his Formula 1 future as he eyes the most competitive seat possible.

McLaren and Alpine are waging war on multiple fronts; not only for the signature of rookie Australian Oscar Piastri, who is expected to replace Ricciardo, but also for fourth place in the constructor’s championship.

The French team extended the gap to McLaren to 20 points, with Alonso and Ocon finishing fifth and seventh as Norris and Ricciardo ended outside the points.

In the coming days, Oscar Piastri is expected to be named as Ricciardo’s replacement with McLaren meaning there will be at least one Australian on the grid in 2023.

VERTAPPEN DOES THE IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE HISTORY

While Ricciardo’s future dominated conversation in the lead-up to the first race back from the summer break, which was won by runaway drivers championship leader Max Verstappen ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari.

Verstappen started 14th on the grid – the worst of his seven-year career – despite topping the time sheet in practice and qualifying, after taking a host of grid penalties.

But it took the Dutch world champion just 11 laps to make his way through the field and challenge Sainz, who started on pole, before racing away to claim his ninth win of the season at a canter.

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Max Verstappen celebrates his victory during the podium ceremony of the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix at Spa-Francophones racetrack at Spa. Picture: AFP

McLaren and Ricciardo this week conceded the relationship had not gone to plan since the Australian swapped from Renault ahead of the 2021 season – a move which at the time was widely expected to bear fruit for both parties.

Instead it soured to the point that after only a handful of races this year, Ricciardo and McLaren began discussing a possible split with one year still remaining on his contract.

That despite the Australian handing McLaren its first race win in a decade last year when he and teammate Lando Norris went one-two at Monza.

All eyes were on the 33-year-old West Australian and how he would perform at Spa given the off-track drama and he raced well to be in points contention until the pit decision.

It was the first of nine remaining races in the papaya that Ricciardo will use to sell himself to a prospective team in 2023 – and prove he is not a spent force in Formula 1.

It wasn’t the performance Ricciardo would have hoped to produce in his first race back from break. He was outplaced by AlphaTauri rival Pierre Gasly (9th) who has been linked to the Alpine seat that looms as Ricciardo’s best chance at being competitive in 2023 after severing ties with McLaren.

Daniel Ricciardo finished 15th at the Belgium Grand Prix. Picture: Getty Images

LECLERC BEMONAS FERRARI

Charles Leclerc admitted Red Bull had performed at another level to Ferrari Spa after finishing a distant sixth behind race-winning world champion Max Verstappen.

Leclerc, a 24-year-old Monegasque dropped to third behind Verstappen and his Red Bull team-mate Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez in the world championship after picking up a late five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane.

He said that was the least of his worries as he reflected on a race in which Red Bull had given a masterclass, recording consistently faster lap times on their way to a dominant one-two finish.

“At the end, it’s more frustrating to see the delta of pace there was between Red Bull and us, which is the thing we need to work on,” he said.

“If you look at Red Bull, they were on another level, and they found something this weekend that is a bit worrying for us.”

He added that his title hopes were remote but refused to give up hope. “It’s definitely looking extremely difficult now, and we don’t exactly understand it. They are extremely quick on the straights. It looks like they have no downforce, but then they get into a corner and they are as quick, or quicker, than us.”

Team-mate Carlos Sainz, who finished third behind the two Red Bulls after starting from pole position, said that tyre wear was the main issue for Ferrari.

“Unfortunately, it was harder than expected,” he said. “We got a good start. I got a good restart after the safety car, but the pace was just not there.

“We had a lot of overheating on the tyres, we were sliding around a lot.” “Red Bull, Max and Checo were in a league of their own today and, unfortunately, we couldn’t put up a stronger fight and we had to survive.

“We have to learn why we were not so competitive at this track.”