Wherever he ends up next year, Daniel Ricciardo is going to keep on smiling.
The most famous pearly whites in Formula One reappeared on Monday as the Australian driver posted on Instagram for the first time since it was reported he was being replaced at McLaren by Oscar Piastri in 2023.
Enjoying his mid-season break in what appeared to be his sunny California base, Ricciardo kept it short and sweet.
“Hello,” he said, adding a sun emoji as he stood in a swimming pool.
Daniel Ricciardo popped up to say hello. Picture: InstagramSource: Instagram
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Ricciardo has been hailed for his dignity and classy response to constant speculation about his future in the sport during a rocky 2022 season.
The Aussie F1 veteran became the story of the F1 mid-year break when it was reported he was being moved on for his 21-year-old countryman Piastri.
The news erupted last week after Fernando Alonso blindsided the F1 world when he jumped into Sebastian Vettel’s vacated seat at Aston Martin for 2023.
Alpine then announced Piastri would be the man to replace Alonso, only for the Melburnian to reject the seat, a bold move for a man who’s never driven an F1 car in anger.
But the news leaked over the weekend that it was Ricciardo’s seat Piastri was set to take, while McLaren were set to cut the eight-time race winner loose for the prodigious youngster — a move which would reportedly cost McLaren $21m in a payout for Ricciardo .
It leaves Ricciardo’s career at a crossroads after two largely miserable seasons in papaya, outside of the 2021 win at Monza.
Ricciardo had been regularly beaten by teammate Lando Norris and struggled to get his head around the car.
The 32-year-old left Renault for McLaren, but could return to the Enstone unit now branded Alpine, who are open to the move.
Alpine still believes it has an iron-clad deal with Piastri and are still planning for the young Aussie to take the seat, despite reports the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board had cleared Piastri’s move.
Wherever he ends up next year, Daniel Ricciardo is going to keep on smiling.
The most famous pearly whites in Formula One reappeared on Monday as the Australian driver posted on Instagram for the first time since it was reported he was being replaced at McLaren by Oscar Piastri in 2023.
Enjoying his mid-season break in what appeared to be his sunny California base, Ricciardo kept it short and sweet.
“Hello,” he said, adding a sun emoji as he stood in a swimming pool.
Ricciardo has been hailed for his dignity and classy response to constant speculation about his future in the sport during a rocky 2022 season.
The Aussie F1 veteran became the story of the F1 mid-year break when it was reported he was being moved on for his 21-year-old countryman Piastri.
The news erupted last week after Fernando Alonso blindsided the F1 world when he jumped into Sebastian Vettel’s vacated seat at Aston Martin for 2023.
Alpine then announced Piastri would be the man to replace Alonso, only for the Melburnian to reject the seat, a bold move for a man who’s never driven an F1 car in anger.
But the news leaked over the weekend that it was Ricciardo’s seat Piastri was set to take, while McLaren were set to cut the eight-time race winner loose for the prodigious youngster — a move which would reportedly cost McLaren $21m in a payout for Ricciardo .
It leaves Ricciardo’s career at a crossroads after two largely miserable seasons in papaya, outside of the 2021 win at Monza.
Ricciardo had been regularly beaten by teammate Lando Norris and struggled to get his head around the car.
The 32-year-old left Renault for McLaren, but could return to the Enstone unit now branded Alpine, who are open to the move.
Alpine still believes it has an iron-clad deal with Piastri and are still planning for the young Aussie to take the seat, despite reports the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board had cleared Piastri’s move.
Don’t worry about Daniel Ricciardo, he’s going to be fine.
The Aussie F1 veteran became the story of the F1 mid-year break when it was reported he was being moved on for his 21-year-old countryman Oscar Piastri.
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The news erupted last week after Fernando Alonso blindsided the F1 world when he jumped into Sebastian Vettel’s vacated seat at Aston Martin for 2023.
Alpine then announced Piastri would be the man to replace Alonso, only for the Melburnian to reject the seat, a bold move for a man who’s never driven an F1 car in anger.
But the news leaked over the weekend that it was Ricciardo’s seat Piastri was set to take, while McLaren were set to cut the eight-time race winner loose for the prodigious youngster — a move which would reportedly cost McLaren $21m in a payout for Ricciardo .
It leaves Ricciardo’s career at a crossroads after two largely miserable seasons in papaya, outside of the 2021 win at Monza.
Ricciardo had been regularly beaten by teammate Lando Norris and struggled to get his head around the car.
The 32-year-old left Renault for McLaren, but could return to the Enstone unit now branded Alpine, who are open to the move.
Alpine still believes it has an iron-clad deal with Piastri and are still planning for the young Aussie to take the seat, despite reports the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board had cleared Piastri’s move.
Although Alfa Romeo rookie and former Renault Academy driver Guanyu Zhou said he was glad he wasn’t “stuck” at Alpine, team boss Otmar Szafnauer believes his team is well placed to attack the top teams.
Speaking regarding Alonso’s decision, Szafnauer, the former Aston Martin boss, said: “I know both teams well,” he said. “I think I know (them), because I spent 12 years at the other team, better than I know all the individuals here just yet.
“And I know since I’ve left in December, they’ve hired some more people, some of which I was a part of recruiting, including Dan Fallows, and Eric Blandin from Mercedes. So I know what they’re trying to do.
“And I know that the people that are there, and I know this team here, and both teams have great potential.
“But as we sit here today, this team is performing at a much higher level. It’s hard to predict the future, but in the near future, for sure this team will continue to perform at that level, if not better.”
Alpine is currently fourth in the constructors’ standings on 99 points, behind only Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, and four points in front of McLaren. Aston Martin is ninth on 20 points.
Szafnauer also said Alpine weren’t done coming fourth.
“We have an internal program called Mountain Climber, and that’s to hire an additional 75 people in strategic areas that will help improve the capabilities of this team,” he said.
“And along with the 75 people, there’s also tools that we are improving now, some simulation tools, a new simulator, expanded capacity in manufacturing, some upgrades to our wind tunnel, all with the focus on being able to win in 100 races.
“So those things are still happening here. And they’re happening fast. We’re already at a level of 850 people here.
“So I am confident that we can outdo the team that Fernando is going to, in the time period that he will be there.”
Ricciardo scored 119 points in Renault in 2020, the best by a driver since the manufacturer’s return to the sport in 2016.
There’s no doubt he would be a strong option for Alpine.
However, in an interview with The confidentialSzafnauer said he would narrow the shortlist to four drivers, revealing he had fielded “like 14 calls from drivers who are interested”.
ESPN’s Nate Saunders also said Ricciardo would “still command the attention of teams up and down the grid” adding he is “one of the most marketable drivers on the grid at the moment and one who is especially popular in America”.
He added four teams had contacted him in the past fortnight prior to the news McLaren were moving to ax the Western Australian.
The Expresseven suggested a pay out from McLaren to Ricciardo and a forced season on the sideline could open up Mercedes.
Ricciardo has long coveted a seat with Ferrari or Mercedes and said the Silver Arrows had “always had an eye” on Ricciardo.
The 37-year-old seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has long been linked with retirement.
In 2019 when Ricciardo joined Renault, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said he had caught their eye but didn’t end up pulling the trigger.
“We always had an eye on Daniel… we really like him in here,” Wolff said at the time. “It’s just the mentality in Mercedes – I sometimes feel if you’re happy in your relationship it is not always easy (to change).
“It is like being married, you need to be 100 per cent behind it. It was not a lack of interest, it was just that we were in a happy relationship and there was no need to flirt with another woman at that stage.”
Is it likely? Not at this stage, but stranger things have happened.
The prospect of the 2023 Formula 1 grid not featuring Daniel Ricciardo is difficult to fathom.
Fortunately it’s not just a hard sell of the average F1 fan; several teams are also sure the eight-time race winner has more to give to motorsport’s premier series.
In the wake of persistent rumors that Mark Webber was lining up Oscar Piastri to snatch Ricciardo’s seat from underneath him in 2023, rival teams have been probing the availability of the affable 33-year-old for his next chapter.
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As many as four rival constructors have sounded out Ricciardo, per ESPN, in the weeks leading up to McLaren reportedly issuing him his intention to break his contract.
Deducing which teams ought to be a simple case of arithmetic.
Before Fernando Alonso’s bombshell move there were six teams with possible vacancies: Alpine, Alfa Romeo, Haas, AlphaTauri, Aston Martin and Williams.
Alpine assumed it wouldn’t be going to market given it thought it had Piastri on the books as a fallback for Alonso, reducing the list to five.
AlphaTauri is also moving closer to re-signing Yuki Tsunoda, who Franz Tost wants to give a third season to establish himself. Anyway, signing 33-year-old Ricciardo also doesn’t click with what’s supposed to be Red Bull’s development team. Four teams remaining.
Aston Martin has also removed itself from the list, but with Alpine seemingly sure to need new blood, the group possible suitors is stable at four, including Haas, Alfa Romeo and Williams.
So which is most likely to be seriously pitching for Ricciardo’s services, and which has the best chance of attracting his attention.
Ricciardo set to be replaced by Piastri | 00:32
ALPINE: THE CLEAR FRONTRUNNER
Alpine is unlikely to have been among the teams to have reached out to Ricciardo before the Hungarian Grand Prix given it was certain to the point of complacency that Alonso would re-sign, and it assumed in the unlikely event the Spaniard left, Oscar Piastri would be aligned to replace him.
But you can guarantee that the French team has reached out in the week since the driver market kicked into gear, and it’s the obvious frontrunner for Ricciardo’s services.
why it makes sense
Alpine is the highest placed team in the constructors standings with an availability — in fact it’s a place ahead of McLaren, occupying fourth with a four-point margin, so it would represent a step forwards on the grid, even if that step would be almost imperceptibly small.
The team is also on a hiring spree to match the workforce size of the frontrunners, and having undertaken some capital works to upgrade its factory, it’s well placed to maximize its budget cap allocation in the coming seasons.
Alpine also has a weak bargaining hand given it’s now 35 races deep into a 100-race plan to be a regular podium-getter. Esteban Ocon is credible enough but really the team needs a high-caliber spearhead, and there’s no-one on the market who comes close to Ricciardo’s potential or brand value.
And then there’s a certain unquantifiable appeal for both sides—one that neither would admit to, although stranger things have happened—that they’d be united by a common adversary. Both would surely be keen to defeat McLaren in a straight fight, and they’re each other’s best chance of doing so.
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Why it doesn’t
The only thing that would prevent Ricciardo and Alpine from renewing the relationship that ended in 2020 is pride. Ricciardo would be returning to a team he’d previously ditched, and Alpine would be taking back a driver who decided to walk out after only a year of racing.
But it’s debatable that this would be a strong disincentive to join.
For one, Alpine has been through a management clean-out since Ricciardo left, meaning there could be only so much bad blood to influence decision-making.
Team principal Otmar Szafnauer was even receptive to Ricciardo as a possible re-hire as early as last week, when he was still trying to project an air of confidence about keeping Piastri.
“I mean, if you look at Fernando, for example, he comes and goes, and I think that happens to other drivers too,” he said, per autosport. “I don’t think that’s an issue [with Ricciardo] at all.”
As for Ricciardo, he’s proved during his McLaren tenure that he isn’t afraid about claiming responsibility for his actions. He’s been upfront about his underperformance, and returning to Alpine, where he had one of the best seasons of his career in 2020, would just be an extension of that.
Alpine may not have been among the early suitors of Ricciardo’s services, but it’s certainly at the head of the pack.
Piastri backflip as he denies Alpine F1 | 01:07
HAAS: TRYING ITS LUCK
Haas is the next team in the constructors standings without an obvious solution to its driver line-up if it parts ways with Mick Schumacher, whether on its own motion or because the German switches teams given the pathway to Ferrari is closed for the foreseeable future.
why it makes sense
Daniel Ricciardo is box office in the United States partly thanks to Drive to Survivepartly thanks to his love for the US and partly thanks to his personal team’s efforts to get his personality out there.
For a Haas team that’s on the up but in need of some brand cut-through, Ricciardo would be a great get — and maybe even enough to convince Gene Haas to increase his commitment to funding the team, at least for purposes of snagging a star. driver.
Ricciardo would also enjoy the relaxed and apolitical atmosphere at the midfield team, perhaps enough to sway a decision.
Why it doesn’t
While the morass of the midfield is a bit of a minefield in terms of their prospects in the next few years — Alonso clearly doesn’t think ninth-placed Aston Martin has dimmer prospects than fourth-placed Alpine — Haas has been particularly inconsistent this season . It would be a difficult sell to Ricciardo to take a punt on things moving forwards rather than backwards.
Haas might also question whether it’s ready for a driver of Ricciardo’s ambition at this stage of its rebuild.
There’s also a lack of clarity around whether Ferrari has finally said over Haas’s second seat as part of its technical agreement with the team, which would presumably rule Ricciardo out of the running.
Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFPSource: AFP
WILLIAMS: WITHOUT AN OBVIOUS SUCCESSOR
Williams was set to be a major player in the driver market when it was tied to Alpine’s decision-making around Oscar Piastri and Fernando Alonso, but that power was stripped from Grove when both drivers sensationally abandoned the French team.
It’s also left Williams without an obvious candidate for its second seat, currently occupied by Nicholas Latifi, who’s likely to be shown the door at the end of the year.
why it makes sense
Williams has fielded mostly rookies for the last five seasons, with the only exceptions being Robert Kubica in 2019, who was making his comeback an eight-year injury hiatus, and Alex Albon, who had two disrupted years in the Red Bull system before sitting out last year.
It means the team is without a proven, established bar with which to measure its car’s ultimate performance. Ricciardo would give the team a chance to know just how much more might be in the car or whether what we’re seeing today is the best the team’s got.
If Ricciardo were desperate to continue his Formula 1 career but unable to secure a contract at a better placed team, Williams would surely be happy to accept him.
Why it doesn’t
Much like Haas, Williams may not feel ready for a heavy hitter of Ricciardo’s stature. It’s also seriously debatable whether Daniel, with a point to prove about his last 18 months and eager to restore his reputation, would see value in a contract that would struggle to guarantee him more than lower midfield levels of performance.
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
ALFA ROMEO: NOT IN NEED OF A LEADER
Alfa Romeo has been one of the sport’s great improvers this year and is on track for the best points haul of its independent history. It also has Zhou Guanyu out of contract this season, and though the Chinese rookie has acquired himself well, the team is yet to re-sign him.
why it makes sense
The Sauber-run Alfa Romeo team’s biggest card is that it’s reportedly in negotiations to be bought by Audi. Sauber would then become the German marque’s works constructor, complete with a power unit program.
If the best route to a championship is to race for a fully fledged manufacturer, getting in on the ground floor before Audi potentially buys in — and presumably spends big to accelerate progress where it can — might be the best shortcut to the front.
Why it doesn’t
Valtteri Bottas’s strong performances and long-term contract mean Alfa Romeo doesn’t need a team leader, no matter your opinion of the abilities of the Finn relative to the Australian.
Further, the team has an eye to promoting its development driver, Théo Pourchaire, from Formula 2. Pourchaire is only 21 points off the title lead, and if he wins the series this year, he won’t be able to enter again — and even if he missed out, another strong campaign would likely be enough to get him into F1 by 2024.
Wedging Ricciardo into Zhou Guanyu’s seat makes no sense when it’s already earmarked for one of Sauber’s own drivers.
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
WHAT ABOUT THE LONG GAME?
There’s one other criterion that might be on Ricciardo’s mind aside from getting himself into the most competitive seat available next season: ensuring he’s available to take part in driver market movements among the frontrunners in the coming seasons.
Out of contract next year are both Lewis Hamilton, who is inching closer to retirement, and George Russell at Mercedes, and team boss Toto Wolff has previously described himself as an admirer of the Australian. A Mercedes-powered team might therefore enjoy a small boost in bargaining power.
The 2024 season is Sergio Perez’s last under his current contract, while Charles Leclerc will also be up for renewal. Fernando Alonso is understood to have signed a two-plus-one deal at Aston Martin that could also see his seat made available.
But before leaping at any such hypotheticals — if indeed they’re on his mind at all — Ricciardo will need to nail down a contract to keep him in F1 next season.
It was less than two days ago we thought Fernando Alonso had blown up the driver market. Little did we know how explosive the silly season was about to become.
When Alpine declined to immediately name Piastri as Alonso’s successor — the logical choice given the triple junior champion’s pedigree and standing inside the team — it was clear a twist was coming.
That twist was the manifestation of the long-running rumor that his Mark Webber-led management team was attempting to crowbar him into a seat at McLaren.
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Williams on loan had been shaping up as Piastri’s most likely destination in 2023 while Alpine held on to Alonso, but the backmarker with slim prospects was thought too likely to slow the Aussie’s already disrupted momentum.
Webber thus started lobbying McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl — who was his own team boss in his championship-winning World Endurance Championship campaign with Porsche — to replace the struggling Ricciardo.
Piastri’s social media protest that he “will not be driving for Alpine next year” can only be a sign that Webber is confident he’s got the job done.
But Piastri can claim a set of orange overalls only if F1’s other Aussie isn’t already in them. And so this latest — but not final — chapter of silly season shenanigans begs the question: what’s in store for Daniel Ricciardo?
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Ricciardo pulls off epic double pass | 00:46
OPTION 1: STATUS QUO
The first alternative is what’s officially the case at the moment. With McLaren unwilling or unable to comment, with Alpine insisting Oscar Piastri will drive for Enstone next season and with Piastri himself not divulging what he expects to be doing next season, the official information is that Ricciardo and Lando Norris will drive for McLaren in 2023.
And that’s not just a matter of ignoring what’s being written between the lines of Piastri’s contract denial and Alpine’s slapdash press statement attempting to stake its claim on the young Aussie.
Ricciardo has a contract through to the end of next year, and reportedly the options to break it are entirely on his side of the ledger — a reminder of just how highly rated he was when he joined McLaren for last season.
Without termination triggers, McLaren would need Ricciardo to decide to walk away before it would have a vacancy to offer to his younger compatriot.
And we know what Ricciardo’s said about the prospect of wrapping up his deal early.
“I am committed to McLaren until the end of next year and am not walking away from the sport,” he
If he has to say in it, he’s going nowhere.
Of course that doesn’t preclude him from changing his mind in changed circumstances — more on that below.
It also doesn’t mean he can’t be paid out in full if McLaren wants to move him on.
But Woking would only undertake such a costly exercise if it were guaranteed Piastri’s services, which is also not a given.
Alpine is clearly attempting to lay claim to the 21-year-old despite his intention to drive elsewhere, and while its legal standing is unclear, there’d be precedent for him getting stuck with Enstone.
Jenson Button attempted to join Williams in 2005 despite BAR insisting it had the right to exercise an option on his contract to retain him. F1’s Contract Recognition Board — set up specifically to handle these sorts of situations — ruled in favor of BAR, keeping the Briton tied to the team.
So while all signs point towards Piastri taking up a seat at Woking, it’s never over until it’s over.
OPTION 2: RETURN TO ALPINE
But with McLaren apparently clear in its intention to switch Ricciardo out for a younger alternative, the eight-time race winner may admit the writing is on the wall and seek employment elsewhere.
Conveniently enough, in those circumstances the best available seat would be at Alpine.
Would it be embarrassing to return to the team he spurned after only one season racing there?
It all depends on perspective.
The Renault that Ricciardo left at the end of 2020 is a different team to that we know at Alpine now, and those changes are deeper than just the name. The old management has been cleaned out, replaced by Laurent Rossi at the top as CEO and Otmar Szafnauer as team principal, neither of whom would hold a grudge for his departure from him.
‘He f****** hit me’ – Dan & Stroll crash | 00:32
When Ricciardo decided he’d walk away, there was also considerable speculation that Renault was considering ending its Formula 1 project after progress up the field had proved substantially more difficult than hoped.
Instead it decided to change tack and brand it with the name of its specialty sports car business, and just this year the team said it was increasing its headcount to 900 staff, which is in line with the sport’s frontrunners after years of trying to tackle F1 on the cheap. It’s also investing considerably in capital works at the factory.
Combined those things address many of the reasons Ricciardo will have been tempted away from Enstone, and the team has proven since that it’s at a minimum not slipping backwards. The appeal of racing for McLaren has also obviously been substantially discoloured by his unhappy experience adapting to the car.
He’d also have the opportunity to rebuild his reputation, which was at stratospheric levels at the end of his tenure at Enstone, having built the car around him in a relatively short period of time.
And considering Alpine is ahead of McLaren in the constructors’ standings — admittedly in part because Ricciardo isn’t scoring as heavily as Norris — he’d technically be trading up.
OPTION 3: TAKE A PUNT ON A SMALLER TEAM
If returning to Alpine were too bitter a pill to swallow but Ricciardo definitely wanted to continue racing in Formula 1, there are several teams with openings for 2023.
Alfa Romeo is yet to re-sign Zhou Guanyu, Mick Schumacher is still uncommitted to Haas and neither Williams driver is signed up for next season, though Alex Albon reportedly has an option on his contract the team is poised to exercise.
Ricciardo: I’m not done with yet | 16:38
AlphaTauri is expected to recommit to Yuki Tsunoda once Red Bull finalises its new commercial terms with Honda after its overnight announcement of a renewed technical partnership.
Alfa Romeo is the most attractive given widespread speculation it’s close to agreeing to a sale to Audi, which will turn it into a works constructor. It’s also in decent shape as it is at the moment considering its low base in recent years and is on track for one of its most lucrative point scores ever.
It would also facilitate Zhou’s return to Alpine, which brought him through the junior categories alongside Piastri.
Haas is less likely despite rumors Schumacher is looking to move elsewhere on the grid given his low prospects of a Ferrari call-up. Williams, meanwhile, would be least attractive of all given it’s a long-term project. The team is reportedly in talks with reigning Formula E champion Nyck de Vries to replace Nicholas Latifi.
OPTION 4: REMOVE
The last option will be the most crushing to contemplate for fans of the forever likeable Aussie, but Ricciardo may decide to call time on his F1 career after 232 starts and at least eight wins and 32 podiums.
McLaren was supposed to be the team that delivered him back to the front of the grid and into title contention, but not only has he not been able to achieve the highs he managed at previous squads, but McLaren itself has failed to fulfill its competitive ambitions .
Even under new regulations the chasm between the frontrunners and the midfield remains wide. The prospects for upwards mobility among the teams is still limited.
And with all the leading teams committed to their drivers for the medium term, Ricciardo may decide it’s not worth continuing in the infinity of the midfield and turn his attention to other pursuits.
But can you really imagine Ricciardo, at just 33 years old and in what is conventionally regarded as the peak age for a driver, wrapping it up?
“The more people ask me [about retirement]I’m like, ‘F*** that, I want to stay longer!’,” he told RacingNews365 in May.
“What’s my shelf life? I still think there’s a good handful of years left in me competitively.
“It’s relative as well to competitiveness [and] desire.
“I think I’ve still got the desire in me for a good handful of years, results aside.”
Whether he gets that handful of years remains to be seen — and if he does, the significant matter of where he spends them is still unclear.
