ARE MCLAREN THE BAD GUYS? IN A WORD ….NO
Before you reach for the reply button to vent your rage at the opening line, let me explain.
FORMULA 1 EXPECTATIONS
The F1 paddock is a ruthless entity, with each team looking to gain an advantage over their competitors. This includes technological advantages, backroom staff and of course drivers. If the relationship is not working then you are out and someone that can do the job is in. In some situations even doing your job well doesn’t mean you will stay.(Just ask Damon Hill). With drivers’ its usually pretty clear all is not right within the team. A dip in form on the track, slight changes in their demeanour outside of the car is another clue, however it is usually just speculation until a team or driver mention something that would confirm that something is wrong.
Pierre Gasly was given the seat at Redbull for the 2019 season after the surprise decision from Danny Ricciardo to move to Renault (now Alpine). It seemed like a decent choice, however as the season progressed most, if not all of the F1 world could see that things were not clicking. Even though Christian Horner stated they were committed to the young Frenchman, it was clear Gasly would be lucky to end the season as part of the main Redbull team. The Formula 1 world was not surprised when Gasly was demoted to the Redbull sister team for the remainder of the 2019 season, with Alex Albon heading in the opposite direction.
CONTRACTS ARE COMPLEX IN THEIR SIMPLICITY
Although contracts between drivers are usually pretty complex, with agreements on everything from corporate appearances to image rights and on track performances. The main reason(s) a team and driver decide to form a relationship is pretty straightforward, it boils down to a couple of things. For the team it will be “can the driver push/help the team get further up the grid?” and/or does this driver fit the ethos of the team and the brand”? For the driver it’s usually “can this car/team help me to be competitive”? and/or “will this team help me win a title”?
MCLAREN and RICCIARDO
Danny Ricciardo has been in Formula 1 for a number of years, a proven race winner and with an outgoing and warm personality. The internet went into complete meltdown when the Australian announced his decision to head to Renault from Redbull, a decision that was covered in all its awkward glory on the Netflix series Drive to Survive. Once he got to grips with the car Danny had a decent season, one that he could build on for the following season.
The Covid delayed 2020 season may have lacked a Summer break, but it still had a silly season, with Ferrari deciding to ditch four time champion Sebastian Vettel. This after promising to give the German a contract offer. As a result of this decision, Ferrari chose Carlos Sainz to partner Charles Leclerc, leaving a seat open at McLaren. The papaya squad went for the Australian and the Ricciardo/McLaren partnership was born.
On paper, McLaren and Ricciardo seemed like a match made in heaven. The team were on the up on track, they had a promising talent with Lando Norris. The Zak Brown McLaren are a more relaxed team compared to the Ron Dennis era, unfortunately on track performances did not match the expectation. Danny was afforded some time to adjust to the Mclaren MCL35M, but as the season continued it was clear that Danny just didn’t have the confidence in the car. The only bright spark to the season was the McLaren 1-2 with Danny leading his teammate Norris to the chequered flag at the Italian GP at Monza. A win that could be argued, only happened due to team orders.
As a whole the season was underwhelming for Ricciardo, who would have been disappointed with his lack of progress and competitiveness against his less experienced teammate.
2022 NEW REGULATIONS, NEW BEGINNINGS?
Ricciardo and Mclaren were both hoping that the massive changes for the 2022 season would allow Danny to fulfill his potential and expectations of the team, however this did not happen. Ricciardo showed the odd glimpse of his old self, but these proved fleeting, with Lando Norris consistently beating him, things were not looking good at all.
THINGS BEGIN TO BREAK DOWN (IN PUBLIC)
Throughout the 2021 season and the start of this season Mclaren and Ricciardo were united in their goals, McLaren were aware that Danny was struggling and were using any tools at their disposal to help him reach the level that was expected from both parties. As the 2022 season continued, it was clear that things were just not working. The issues from 2021 continued to plague the Australian driver, adding the fact that Lando Norris continued his consistent driving, cracks in the relationship began to appear in public. After a disappointing Spanish GP, Zak Brown (McLaren, CEO) admitted during an interview with SKY F1’s Any Driven Sunday show, that Danny had not met McLaren’s expectations
“Short of kind of Monza and a few races, it’s generally not kind of met his or our expectations.“
Zak Brown on Danny Ricciardo’s performances.
Although people were surprised by the comments, it was an honest answer to an honest question, and nothing that most people within F1 were not already saying. Brown also confirmed in the same interview that McLaren were using all the tools at their disposal to help Danny reach both parties expectations.
WHEN ENOUGH IS ENOUGH …
Every team on the grid has expectations, some different than others. For McLaren it would be to cement themselves as “best of the rest”. After securing third in the Constructors Championship in 2020, the signing of Ricciardo would have been seen as the next logical step in cementing third and looking to get closer to Redbull and Mercedes at the front. The 2021 season did not pan out that way, with Mclaren dropping down to fourth place; in part due to Daniel Ricciardo’s lackluster campaign.
As this season continued it was clear that Ricciardo was not able to get the most from the car. Performances were consistently slower that Lando Norris. The regulation changes did not herald the change that was hoped. Granted the MCL36 did struggle early in the season due to issues around break cooling, which left both Mclaren’s at the back, unfortunately it seemed even then that Lando had the measure of his Australian teammate.
SILLY SEASON AND DANNY RICCIARDO
It would be naive to think that McLaren were blindly supporting Danny and not having a look around the paddock for options. When Fernando Alonso decided to jump off the Alpine ship and swim over to Aston Martin to replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel, it caught many by surprise not least the upper management of Alpine. They thought they were still in negotiations with the 2 Time Champion! The most logical replacement at Alpine would be Oscar Piastri. The young Australian driver is the current Alpine test driver and is thought of very highly within the F1 paddock. As expected a couple days after Alonso’s move was confirmed, Alpine announced Oscar Piastri would indeed be in the car for the 2023 season partnering Esteban Ocon. Fast forward less than 2 hours however and Oscar Piastri took to social media to deny that any deal was in place. He would NOT be driving for the French team next season. Cue the social media meltdown!!!
While F1 twitter was imploding, something that was filtering out of the debris, was that McLaren had been in conversations with Oscar Piastri for several weeks. Initially as a test driver for 2023, but as more information came out, it was clear that McLaren were actively looking to put Piastri in the race seat at the expense of Danny Ricc. McLaren had apparently decided enough was enough and it was time to make a change. This has not been confirmed, but it seems that it will be just a matter of time before it is confirmed. The McLaren/Ricciardo partnership will be ending one year early.
HAS MCLAREN DONE THE DIRTY ON DANNY?
In short NO, Daniel Ricciardo came to McLaren with a race winning pedigree. A driver that can be trusted to take a team and lead it both on and off the track. This has not happened. Danny has underwhelmed at McLaren. For whatever reason it just hasn’t clicked. It would look like McLaren has decided that Oscar Piastri is a better long term option for the team. A talent that can not be passed over. Some of the blame for this situation has to fall at Ricciardo’s door. It’s up to him to put in the performances that would stop McLaren even thinking about replacing him. Finishing third instead of fourth is worth Millions and for a team like McLaren, that is the priority. We are also not privy to any conversations between Ricciardo and Mclaren, he could be fully aware of the situation and McLaren’s decision to start searching. He has been in Formula 1 that long that I would be surprised if the thought had not crossed his mind.
This is an unfortunate situation for both Ricciardo and Mclaren but one that was destined to end the way it did. Ricciardo is not going to be the last driver signed that will not live up to expectations and be moved aside before their contract has ended. It’s the nature of the beast, if you don’t perform in F1 you are moved on, regardless of reputation.