Daniel Ricciardo reveals major amble in McLaren contract detail

Details surrounding Daniel Ricciardo’s new McLaren contract had been kept private. The Aussie has now revealed his big gamble.

The fine print of Daniel Ricciardo’s new McLaren contract had been kept private for more than six months, but the Aussie star has now announced the deal is a standard three-year-contract.

The deal locks Ricciardo to the McLaren garage until the end of the 2023 season, at which point he will be 34-years-old.

Speculation has followed Ricciardo and his McLaren contract ever since the team announced a “multi-year” deal in May.

The Perth product stunned the Formula 1 grid when his contract with the English team was announced just days after it was confirmed Sebastian Vettel would be replaced at Ferrari by Carlos Sainz.

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He showed just how much faith he has in the emerging team, that finished third in the 2020 Constructor’s Championship, when he revealed the contract detail before the team’s driver line-up was officially confirmed on Friday (AEDT).

Daniel Ricciardo has hit the track for the first time in a McLaren.

He sent an ominous warning to the rest of the grid this week when he got behind the wheel of his new MCL35M Formula 1 car for the first time. He clearly likes what he has seen.

“I guess I can say — I’ll say it anyway, I’ve got nothing to hide — it’s three years,” Ricciardo said, according to Autosport.

“So, it’s certainly enough time to get this thing going.

“I feel I’m coming here with a bunch of momentum behind the team as well, not only results, but I think some really good stability in the team and the infrastructure.”

It was reported in May that Ricciardo was set to take a huge pay cut as part of his deal with McLaren, but the money involved with the contract has never been confirmed publicly.

The former Red Bull driver is reportedly facing a pay haircut of around $25 million per-year in his base salary, according to French reporter Marc Limacher.

The report claims Ricciardo was set to earn a stunning 25 million euros ($41.5m) with Renault during the 2020 Formula 1 season before the Aussie accepted a pay cut during the coronavirus-enforced season lock down.

Now Limacher claims Ricciardo’s deal with McLaren is worth $17 million per-year (10 million euros per year) — less than half his current deal.

The 15 million euro per-year pay cut would represent a 60 per cent dive.

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However, the fine print in the contract reportedly includes a series of juicy bonuses for the Aussie, including:

— Ricciardo has been guaranteed status as the team’s No. 1 driver

— Ricciardo’s contract is for two years with an option in his favour for a one-year extension through to the end of the 2023 season; and

— Ricciardo can unlock a series of bonus payments reportedly ranging from 400,000 euros every time he collects championship points to 1 million euros for each grand prix victory.

The Sun reported earlier Ricciardo started 2020 as the third highest paid star in Formula 1, behind only Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.