Lando Norris delivers cold take on Daniel Ricciardo’s sacking by McLaren

Daniel Ricciardo has dropped a big hint about his 2023 plans while his McLaren teammate has dropped a bombshell on the Australian.

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia

Daniel Ricciardo could take a year out from Formula One racing as his McLaren teammate Lando Norris offered a brutal assessment of the Australian’s sacking from the team.

In his first interview since news of his “mutual” parting of ways for 2023 with McLaren, Ricciardo revealed he would consider taking next year off in order to wait for the right drive in F1 so he could compete for podiums and not simply make up the numbers as he has been for the most part of his two-year tenure with McLaren.

Ricciardo has been linked with a move to Alpine or Haas, but would be reluctant to take any step backwards on the grid by joining a team that is not competitive.

With a $14.5 million payout from McLaren, Ricciardo can afford to be selective about his future.

Things might be a little awkward between (L-R) Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. Picture: Joe Portlock/Getty Images

“Yes, if it made sense,” Ricciardo told reporters in Belgium when asked if he might take a year out.

“It’s the only racing I’m interested in at this stage of my career. F1 is what I love , and it’s where I see myself, if I’m doing any racing.

“If let’s say the stars don’t align, and it doesn’t make perfect sense next year, and if it means taking that time off to kind of reset or re-evaluate, then if that’s the right thing to do, then I’m willing to.

“I still love the sport, and I think through all of this, I guess, call it adversity, I haven’t lost that confidence in myself. For sure, we’ve had some tough weekends. And you can’t help but show emotion sometimes. But I still love it.

“And I still want to do it competitively, I want to do it in the in the right place. I’ve never said I want to just be a driver to make up the numbers. If I’m here, I want to be here for a purpose.

“So I don’t know what that means yet for the future. But of course, if it’s the right opportunity, then this is where I want to be.”

Norris offered no sympathy for Ricciardo when asked how he felt about the early termination of the Australian’s contract as the drivers assembled for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

“I don’t feel like, for any driver on the grid, you would have to feel, or have sympathy, for them because they’ve not been able to do as good of a job,” he explained, having described the self-centred nature of the role of a racing driver.

Asked if he had any sympathy for his 33-year-old team-mate, he was unequivocal. “I hate to say it, but I would say no,” he responded.

“People will probably hate me for saying it.

“And it’s difficult because I never know if I might encounter that in the future with this car or a different team, or whatever, so I never want to contradict myself going into the future.

“I’ve just got to focus on my driving and my job. It’s not my job to focus on someone else and I’m not a driver coach. I’m not here to help and do those kinds of things.”

A reminder that Daniel Ricciardo is the only driver to win in a McLaren in the last decade 🏆 pic.twitter.com/eLzcb4UR26

— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) August 24, 2022

Norris, who has out-performed the eight-time race winner with a comprehensive demonstration of superior speed and results, said he had worked to overcome his own difficulties and succeed.

“It’s not a car I feel I’ve been able to jump into and flow with and perform exactly how I want. At the beginning of the year, Daniel was performing better than I was in the pre-season tests and stuff,” he said.

“It looked like he could go out naturally and drive the car how he wanted to and I just had to learn a new way of driving compared to how I’ve been driving the past few years, so I feel like I’ve had to do a job of adapting and so has he.

“But I don’t feel like for any driver on the grid you would have to feel, or have sympathy for them because they’ve not been able to do as good of a job.”

Norris has outscored Ricciardo by 76 points to 19 so far this season to emerge as one of the sport’s rising stars.

But Ricciardo is the only man to have a race win for McLaren in the past decade, with his 2021 Monza victory the team’s first race win since 2012.

Ricciardo revealed his axing from McLaren didn’t come out of the blue, but developed over months of discussions as the driver and team privately conceded their relationship wasn’t working to anyone’s benefit.

“It wasn’t just a random call one day, and ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing,’ he said.

“We’ve been in dialogue for really the last few months. And it wasn’t like, ‘Don’t top five this race, and you’re done.’ But it was more, ‘What can we do?’ How can we as a collective try to keep making this work?

“And obviously I tried to give feedback, and obviously the things I would struggle with on the car. And there was a lot of, I guess, dialogue.

“But also I understood that was also a point of concern, because the results I was getting were not up to I guess the level that we all thought they could have been.

“So we did talk, I certainly want to say, months about it, and ways to try and rectify the issues.

“But then also, potentially, ‘Okay, what next? What now?’ And we kind of just came to unfortunately a bit of a dead end, where we felt like we’d exhausted most things that were at least in reach at the time.

“And that’s when obviously they made a decision.”

McLaren have not announced who will replace Ricciardo next year, but are expected to recruit fellow-Australian Oscar Piastri, who is currently reserve driver with rivals Alpine.

Ricciardo has been linked with a possible seat at the American Haas team next year if they release Mick Schumacher.

Schumacher, 23, has like Ricciardo struggled to live up to his billing in two years with Haas and particularly this year alongside Kevin Magnussen.

WHAT NEXT FOR RICCIARDO?

With the worst-kept secret in F1 now confirmed, what comes next for Daniel Ricciardo?

On Wednesday night (Aus time) the Aussie driver and McLaren announced they had “mutually agreed” to part ways 12 months before his contract was up after two miserable seasons.

“It’s been a privilege to be a part of the McLaren Racing family for the last two seasons but following several months of discussions with Zak 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,” Ricciardo said.

“I’ll be announcing my own future plans in due course but regardless of what this next chapter brings, I have no regrets.

“The sport – I still love it. This hasn’t affected any of that. I still have that fire in me, that belief in my belly that I can do this at the highest level. All that stuff is still there … this isn’t it for me.”

While the news may sting there are a decent number of options available to the West Australian.

So where might he go from here?

ALPINE

There’s history there and while he may not be welcomed back with open arms by some, they need a decent driver after Fernando Alonso defected to Aston Martin and Piastri walked out.

Then-named Renault, Ricciardo was a part of the Alpine family for two seasons from 2019 and enjoyed a relatively successful tenure before he replaced Carlos Sainz at McLaren.

His form might not be exactly what Otmar Szafnauer is after but Ricciardo is a good driver. Alpine have been on an upward trajectory this season and the pairing could in fact be just what they both need.

And how satisfying to do well with Alpine is Piastri goes to McLaren?

Any move to another team would also lessen the payout on McLaren’s end so no doubt Zak Brown will be doing all he can to facilitate an easy deal.

There are still options for F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo.

WILLIAMS

Another team in need of talent and experience, Williams were also short changed by Piastri’s move to McLaren.

Before this saga blew up, it’s widely believed the plan was for Fernando Alonso to stick it out another year with Alpine while Piastri went on loan to Williams or spent another season on the sidelines.

Now, despite Alex Albon being locked in, Williams are in desperate need of a lifeline. Nicholas Latifi has not been the same since Abu Dhabi and the incident which sparked the other major F1 saga of the last 12 months. The Canadian has flopped this year – and that’s being kind.

That said, his money is keeping the side afloat so he may well buy his drive.

Nyck de Vries, Logan Sargeant have been linked with Williams but two relatively inexperienced drivers isn’t a good team make-up in F1, Ricciardo would be a major coup for them.

This one will come down to ego. Is Ricciardo willing to move that far down the grid? Is Williams where he wants his career to finish because this is likely his final contract.

McLaren's Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo is looking for a team for 2023

HAAS

Word on the street is Guenther Steiner has been in touch with Ricciardo and a move is a very real possibility. Mick Schumacher is under no illusion that his time is more than likely up. An Aussie driver on the American team would be a big upgrade.

Ricciardo has an enormous fan base in the USA and has been adopted as the closest thing they have to a homegrown talent on the grid and with three races stateside in 2023 it would be a great fit.

Partnering Kevin Magnussen would present a very real threat to the middle order.

ALPHA TAURI

This is a really long shot but there is more than likely going to be a seat available.

If a team opted for Yuki Tsunoda over Ricciardo for any reason beyond unattainable money expectations, it would be a cardinal sin. But this if F1 and stranger things have happened.

Pierre Gasly is locked in for next year and the Frenchman alongside Ricciardo would be another decent threat to the middle order.

More than likely however is that Tsunoda leaves and a driver from the Red Bull academy comes through.

RETIREMENT

None of us want this to be the end of Ricciardo in F1.

In a sport often lacking in personality but rich in ego, he is a breath of fresh air to race weekends and has been instrumental in F1 reaching new audiences.

There ar ethos eon the grid that claim Ricciardo would not agree to move further back on the grid, but with the front runners all locked in for 2023 and beyond it’s a sad reality that it’s move back or ship out.

It would be an underwhelming end to an incredible career – not least because he’s been ousted from the sport by two compatriots.

Originally published as Lando Norris delivers cold take on Daniel Ricciardo’s sacking by McLaren