McLaren boss’ ‘honest’ criticism of Daniel Ricciardo says it all

McLaren’s boss sent the F1 rumour mill into overdrive about Daniel Ricciardo, but he says his criticism of the Aussie was completely fair.

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN - JUNE 10: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and McLaren talks in the Drivers Press Conference prior to practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on June 10, 2022 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

His comments sent the F1 rumour mill into overdrive but McLaren boss Zak Brown said he was just being “honest” when he criticised Daniel Ricciardo and declared he needed to lift his game.

Ricciardo has struggled in his second season at McLaren and Brown put a rocket up the Australian last month, stating his teammate Lando Norris has a clear “edge” over him and his performances since joining McLaren have “not met his or our expectations”.

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The McLaren CEO then put the cat among the pigeons when he suggested Ricciardo’s contract with the papaya team, which expires at the end of 2023, was not watertight and there were clauses in it that would allow McLaren to part ways with him if his performance doesn’t improve.

“I don’t want to get into the contract, but there are mechanisms in which we’re committed to each other, and mechanisms in which we’re not,” Brown said.

It has since been reported Ricciardo can break his contract but McLaren can’t, but speculation is still rife this season could be the 32-year-old’s last in F1.

Now Brown has said he was just being upfront and frank in his criticism of Ricciardo, who is 13th in the drivers’ championship a third of the way through the season.

“They asked the question and I just gave an honest answer,” he said.

Zak Brown just said what everyone was thinking about Daniel Ricciardo. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“I think Daniel has said the same thing. We’re here to try and get towards the front.

“We’ve got a great relationship, and I just gave an honest answer to a question of how things are going, and things could be going better.

“Daniel has shown, like he did in Monza last year, when we give him a car that suits his driving style and has pace that he’s going to go out and lead laps and win a race.

“I think we need to have a car that’s a little bit more performance and user friendly, and he’ll get the job done.”

Both McLaren drivers finished out of the points at last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix with the team struggling for pace and shooting themselves in the foot with a botched double stacking pit stop strategy.

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl apologised to Ricciardo and Norris for not giving them a competitive car in Montreal, admitting the team “didn’t deserve points”.

“We didn’t give Lando or Daniel the package they deserved today, so we have to offer them an apology,” he said.

“We’ve got work to do. There were mistakes from my side, mistakes from the team’s behalf and we’ll just need to step back, refresh, go again and do a much better job in the next one.”

McLaren is currently fourth in the constructors’ championship behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.

The F1 season continues at the British Grand Prix on Monday July 4 (AEST).