As Daniel Ricciardo fights to keep his place on the Formula 1 grid, pop music icon Harry Styles has thrown his support behind the Australian driver.
Ricciardo became embroiled in F1’s mid-year silly season following reports he will be replaced by young compatriot Oscar Piastri at McLaren next year.
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.
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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 is yet to drive in F1.
Now Ricciardo, who has one year remaining on his contract, has reportedly asked for a $21 million payout from McLaren for the early termination of his contract. The eight-figure payout would clear the way for McLaren to sign Piastri.
Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Photo by Jure Makovec / AFPSource: AFP
Nothing has gone right for Ricciardo this season – the Perth driver accumulated just 19 points before the mid-season break while McLaren teammate Lando Norris has managed 76.
However, Ricciardo has some high-profile celebrities in his corner.
On Sunday, an image of Styles donning a Daniel Ricciardo shirt circulated social media channels, inevitably sending the F1 community into a frenzy.
According to internet sleuths, the Ricciardo shirt went on sale during last October’s United States Grand Prix in Austin.
Earlier this year, Styles released his third full-length solo album “Harry’s House” to critical acclaim. He will also appear in Olivia Wilde’s upcoming psychological thriller “Don’t Worry Darling” alongside Florence Pugh.
Ricciardo has remained tight-lipped about his future in the sport and doesn’t appear bothered by the ongoing saga.
He is clearly enjoying his mid-season break, posting a photo of himself to Instagram smiling in a swimming pool.
If Piastri does indeed take his place at McLaren, Ricciardo’s most likely landing spot would be Alpine, the French team formerly known as Renault where he spent two seasons in 2019 and 2020.
Ricciardo has demanded £13.25m to bring an early end to his contract with McLaren, which is currently due to expire after the 2023 season, according to Speedcafe.
Only the driver has the right to end the contract early, not the team, the report says, which is why Ricciardo is negotiating a pay-off.
It is cheaper for McLaren to pay Ricciardo off, and pay the salary of his replacement Oscar Piastri, than it would be to keep Ricciardo for 2023, according to the French sports business website Sportune.fr.
That is reportedly because Ricciardo’s salary, on his current contract, is due to increase next season.
He penned a three-year deal with McLaren in 2020 – the agreement was for him to be paid an estimated £12.2m in each of the first two seasons. This year, that makes him the joint-fifth highest earner on the F1 grid.
That figure is due to increase for 2023, the final year on Ricciardo’s contract.
His teammate Lando Norris is already earning an estimated £20m per season, with four more years still to run on his current contract.
McLaren intends to pay Ricciardo a settlement equivalent to 50 percent of his contracted 2023 salary, Sportune.fr report.
In total, McLaren believe that Ricciardo’s pay-off, plus Piastri’s salary for 2023, plus compensation to Alpine (who insist Piastri is already under contract with them), would total an estimated €19m (£16m) – that is still less than keeping Ricciardo as their driver for next season.
The F1 2023 driver line-up currently has five vacant seats.
The likeliest landing spot for Ricciardo could be at Alpine, the team he represented when they were known as Renault.
Alpine have lost Fernando Alonso, who will move to Aston Martin for the 2023 season as a replacement for the retiring Sebastian Vettel.
Alonso, the fourth-highest earning driver of 2022, is pocketing more than Ricciardo this season which may mean Alpine have the budget to attract the Australian.
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
MORE COVERAGE
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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.
Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren teammate is steering well clear of the ongoing chaos.
Lando Norris took to social media in the wake of the Formula 1’s silly season going into overdrive to let the world know, he isn’t available.
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On Friday it was reported Ricciardo’s seat at McLaren for the 2023 season would be taken by rising Australian prodigy Oscar Piastri.
The bombshell news means Ricciardo’s contract could be terminated one year early, which would potentially result in a monster payout for the West Australian.
F1 is on its mid-year break and the silly season went into overdrive this week when Piastri emphatically denied he would be filling the spare Alpine seat vacated by Fernando Alonso, who is joining Aston Martin.
But as the chaos unfolds at McLaren, Norris made it abundantly clear he wouldn’t be addressing any of the drama during the break.
Norris uploaded two images of him in a private jet, with this sneaky caption: “Thanks for your email. I will be away from the office until [next week] for [holiday] with no access to email. If your request is urgent, please contact [@mclaren]. Otherwise, I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible when I return on [@fai_aviation_group].”
The Formula 1 world wasn’t happy with Ricciardo’s reported sacking from McLaren, with many hoping the Aussie remains in the sport.
Ricciardo’s career has been on some what of a downward spiral since his days of outdriving Sebastian Vettel and regularly challenging Max Verstappen at Red Bull. But no one wants to see it end this way.
ESPN’s Nate Saunders reported four teams have sounded Ricciardo out recently to “see where his head is at” and slammed McLaren for its treatment of the Aussie.
“It reflects very poorly on Brown and McLaren how they have treated Ricciardo over the past six months,” Saunders wrote. “Ricciardo, the only McLaren driver to have won an F1 race since 2012, has been the first to admit his performances have not been up to the standards he set at Red Bull and Renault but it feels as though he has been made as a scapegoat to deflect away from deeper problems at the team.”
Despite the rapid turn of events this week Ricciardo’s future could take a long time to settle because McLaren will likely face a challenge from Alpine over its poaching of Piastri.
The West Australian could spend a year with McLaren’s IndyCar team to see out his deal, or could receive a pay out and join another team. That team could even be Alpine if Piastri is able to leave.
Who is Oscar Piastri?
Born in Melbourne, Piastri joined Alpine’s academy after clinching the Formula Renault Eurocup title in 2019, securing seven wins.
He carried the form into the Formula 3 series in 2020, winning the opening race on his debut and holding his nerve to claim the title by three points in one of the most closely fought championships ever.
The following year he was on the Formula 2 grid, where he clocked six wins to unequivocally announce his arrival on the world stage, becoming just the third rookie champion after Charles Leclerc (2017) and George Russell (2018). They are both now in F1.
Despite his rapid rise Piastri was overlooked for a drive in Formula One this season because of a lack of available seats, instead lurking on the sidelines at Alpine ready to replace either Esteban Ocon or Alonso if they were forced to miss a race.
He’s managed by fellow Aussie and nine-time F1 race winner Mark Webber. “Does he deserve to be in F1? Absolutely, we all know that,” Webber says. “It’s not a question of if, but when.”
The Piastri family say they are “petrol heads” with his father Chris telling The Sydney Morning Herald that “Oscar’s bedtime stories were mainly car books”.
He started racing remote-controlled cars aged six and by nine had graduated to piloting go-karts.
McLaren has reportedly told Daniel Ricciardo he will be replaced by compatriot Oscar Piastri next season.
Multiple outlets including Autosport are reporting Piastri has signed a deal with the Woking outfit for 2023, initially as a reserve driver, but then in the race seat to partner with Lando Norris once Ricciardo’s exit is arranged.
Ricciardo is contracted for next year after signing a three-year deal to prompt his exit from Renault (now Alpine) in 2020.
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RacingNews365 reported the FIA’s contract recognition board has validated Piastri’s deal with McLaren, allowing it to supersede the deal Alpine believed it had.
Ricciardo’s future in the sport has been the subject of intense speculation this year due to his ongoing struggles with his machinery, leaving a significant disparity between him and teammate Lando Norris.
Norris currently leads Ricciardo 76-19 in the drivers standings.
Publicly McLaren has been supportive of the Australian, with CEO Zak Brown telling Fox Sports last month that Ricciardo would see out his deal with the team, and last month Daniel took to social media to underline his determination to continue until the end of his contract next season.
However, behind closed doors the team has been negotiating a deal with Alpine reserve driver Piastri in a sign it had lost faith in Ricciardo’s ability to turn his season around.
Photo by Clive Mason/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
The matter came to a head after the Hungarian Grand Prix when Fernando Alonso abruptly ended negotiations with Alpine in favor of an Aston Martin contract for next season. When Alpine attempted to draft in reserve driver Piastri in his place he found his Mark Webber-led management team to be unresponsive.
Piastri later took to social media to deny he would race for the French constructor next season, making clear that the rumors of a McLaren move were real.
It’s unclear whether Ricciardo would be seeking a drive at another team and, if so, which teams he would be interested in dealing with.
Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer said earlier this week that he “didn’t think [it would be] an issue at all” to hire Ricciardo in a straight swap with the defective Piastri despite the older Australian having abandoned the French team at the end of 2020.
ESPN has reported that as many as four teams have contacted Ricciardo in recent months to gauge his interest in a change of scenery should he choose to leave McLaren ahead of time.
It’s bittersweet news for Australian Formula 1 fans, with Ricciardo’s loss also meaning Piastri will finally get his full-time F1 promotion after a year on the sidelines as Alpine’s reserve driver.
Photo by Clive Mason/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
Piastri is one of his generation’s foremost talents. The 21-year-old Melburnian has been racing for just five and a half years but boasts three titles on his resume, including crowns in Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula 3 and Formula 2 in consecutive years from 2019 to 2021.
Only George Russell and Charles Leclerc boast similarly decorated junior careers, with both winning GP3 and F2 championships in successive years.
He was inducted into the Renault, now Alpine, driver academy in 2020, accelerating his rise — too fast, in fact, for Alpine, which had no F1 seats available this year to promote him into.
He was forced into the reserve driver role this season, and the team intended to loan him to Williams for at least the next two years on the assumption Fernando Alonso would re-sign with the team.
It’s since transpired that Alpine failed to take up its option to renew Piastri’s contract before he became a free agent, which happened to coincide with Alonso’s sudden defection to Aston Martin, thereby freeing him to sign with McLaren.
The Oscar Piastri saga couldn’t have come at a worse time for Daniel Ricciardo.
The Australian F1 driver would have been eager to recharge the batteries in the mid-season break after a tumultuous first half of 2022, but the 33-year-old has instead become embroiled in the sport’s latest off-track drama.
The retirement of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has sparked a domino effect in the F1 paddock, with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso signing a multi-year deal with Aston Martin earlier this week.
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Alonso’s departure left a vacancy at Alpine, and the F1 team announced on Wednesday morning Aussie young gun Piastri would be joining France’s Esteban Ocon next season.
But they may have jumped the gun.
“I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year,” Piastri said in a statement. “This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
The 21-year-old’s bombshell declaration would suggest he has already secured a seat with a rival team, one of the most likely candidates being at McLaren, replacing countryman Ricciardo.
Despite being contracted with McLaren until the end of 2023, Ricciardo is seemingly at risk of losing his seat to young compatriot Piastri.
Last year, the Perth driver spoke about how important the mid-season break was for him amid a disappointing maiden season with McLaren.
Ricciardo briefly silenced his critics by winning the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, but the dramatic triumph remains his only podium finish for the Woking-based team.
Australian F1 fans will be hoping Ricciardo can rediscover his mojo next after the August holiday, but the Piastri drama has ensured it will be difficult for Ricciardo to clear his head during the mid-season break.
“To be honest, switching off normally gives me like a natural reset,” he said after last week’s Hungarian Grand Prix, as reported by motorsport.com.
“To a point where I imagine in say 10 days, two weeks into the break, I would have kind of got the holiday out of my system, and then I’ll build that hunger back again.
“So I’ll naturally think about it, after getting time off. That’s normally how it works for me.
“Again, go out with friends, drink some beers, have fun. And then I’ll get to the point where I start to not feel guilty, but just like alright, time to turn it on again. And then it’s kind of a natural switch that will come back probably after 14 days.
“A bit like last year, kind of start that second half of this season with a positive bang and just to get the ball rolling. The triple header, it’s intense.
“So I think come out and set some strong intentions. That’s the plan. Obviously, it’s easier said than done. But that’s certainly the plan.”
Good luck switching off while F1’s silly season explodes — with Ricciardo firmly placed in the middle of it all.
ESPN reports four rival teams have contacted Ricciardo over the past couple of weeks to assess where his head is at regarding his future.
Ricciardo has struggled to prove his worth since joining McLaren in 2021, repeatedly being outclassed by younger teammate Lando Norris.
McLaren boss Zak Brown publicly confessed the Australian, who is 12th in the drivers’ standings with 19 points, has failed to meet expectations.
Ricciardo is still adapting to the intricacies of the MCL36, which he described as one of the more difficult F1 cars he’s driven.
“I remember where in a race stint you could do 20 laps and you could stay within three tenths probably for a 20-lap stint at times, and kind of just be very in control,” he said.
“There’s some lapses, which I’ll put together, and kind of make sense. And I’m like, that was sweet. But then a couple of laps later, I might drop four tenths (of a second) or something, and then I’m like, ughh …
“It’s not so simple, like a dot-to-dot, there’s some hurdles before getting to the next dot. And so that’s a little complicated.
“I guess when it’s on more of a knife-edge or when there’s more variables, that’s where it starts to become that step more difficult.”
Even if Ricciardo were cast aside by McLaren ahead of next season, that wouldn’t necessarily signal the end of his F1 career.
Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer has not shut the door on Ricciardo making a shock return if the F1 team was unable to keep Piastri.
Regardless, Ricciardo has made it abundantly clear he has no interest in departing McLaren anytime soon.
“There have been a lot of rumors around my future in Formula 1, but I want you to hear it from me,” he posted to Instagram last month.
“I am committed to McLaren until the end of next year and am not walking away from the sport. Appreciate it hasn’t always been easy, but who wants easy!
“I’m working my a** off with the team to make improvements and get the car right and back to the front where it belongs. I still want this more than ever.”
The F1 season will resume at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, August 28.
It has been an extraordinary and tumultuous two days for the Alpine F1 team.
In the space of just 48 hours, the Anglo-French outfit lost Fernando Alonso and also appears to have lost their highly-rated junior driver Oscar Piastri in one of the most remarkable F1 rows of recent times.
The chaotic events have seen the 2023 driver market explode into life and led to a messy public dispute. But how did we get here?
making sense of madness
Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix – the final race before the summer break – Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from F1 at the end of the 2022 season.
Naturally, thoughts quickly turned to who might replace the four-time world champion. Alonso, whose contract with Alpine was expiring, seemed like a dream statement signing for Aston Martin.
Although the Spaniard refused to completely rule a switch out, everything pointed towards him staying put for 2023. That’s what Alpine also believed, with Alonso assuring the team he had not signed with anyone else as the team prepared to leave Hungary on Sunday night.
The following morning, Aston Martin confirmed they had signed Alonso on a multi-year contract beginning in 2023, sending shockwaves through F1.
The bombshell news took Alpine by surprise, with team principal Otmar Szafnauer telling reporters in a press conference on August 2 that he first learned of Alonso’s departure when he read Aston Martin’s official press release.
Just hours later on late Tuesday afternoon, Alpine announced that Piastri, who won last year’s F2 championship, would make his F1 debut in 2023 “in line with the commitments made by the team to the young Australian”.
But Piastri responded by tweeting that he had “not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023 and will not be driving for them next year”. The 21-year-old said the announcement was “wrong” and had come “without my agreement”.
Prior to Alonso’s shock exit, Alpine had been looking to find Piastri a spot on the grid, with Williams at one stage appearing to be Piastri’s most likely destination.
The nature of Piastri’s public condemnation of Alpine’s announcement suggests he is confident about having another deal already lined up. Piastri, who is managed by ex-F1 driver Mark Webber, is understood to have an agreement with McLaren.
What happens next?
The dramatic stand-off, which appears to have been orchestrated by Alonso – who, just minutes after Piastri’s tweet, posted a video of him sticking his thumb up on Instagram – is set to rumble on.
Both parties believe they are in the right and a contractual tug-of-war looks set to follow during what is meant to be F1’s quietest period since the season began.
The unraveling contract saga echoes a similar motorsport dispute that is ongoing between Chip Ganassi Racing and McLaren over the destination of reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou.
Ganassi has issued a lawsuit against Palou after the Spaniard denied the team’s announcement that he is under contract for 2023 and beyond. Hours later, McLaren issued their own press release claiming that Palou had signed with them.
A similar situation occurred in F1 back in 2004 when BAR-Honda and Williams were both convinced they had legitimate deals with Jenson Button, who had tried to quit BAR to rejoin Williams.
BAR ultimately won their fight with Williams for Button to drive for them in 2005 after F1’s Contract Recognition Board (CRB) ruled in their favor.
Intriguingly, Szafnauer, then vice president of Honda Racing, was also involved.
Should the Alpine/Piastri dispute end up in a legal battle, the outcomes are seemingly two-fold; either Piastri stays and races for Alpine in 2023, or some kind of settlement deal with McLaren is reached.
Where does this leave Ricciardo?
The complicated tussle leaves question marks surrounding the future of Daniel Ricciardo, who is under contract at McLaren until the end of the 2023 season.
Should Piastri get his way, he will replace his compatriot at McLaren.
Ricciardo’s future has been the subject of intense speculation ever since McLaren boss Zak Brown admitted the under-performing Australian’s time with the team had not met expectations.
However, on July 13, Ricciardo issued a statement insisting he would not walk away from F1 and underlined his commitment to seeing out the rest of his McLaren contract.
If McLaren end up fielding Piastri alongside Lando Norris next season, they will have to pay off Ricciardo, and that won’t be cheap.
While Alpine hopes that Piastri will fill the seat vacated by Alonso, alternative options will be considered should the team not be able to keep the highly-rated youngster, who is considered a future F1 star.
As an eight-time grand prix winner, Ricciardo would be the most attractive and obvious option on the market for Alpine, despite the fact he left the Enstone team after just two years to join McLaren in 2021.
It would be a potentially awkward move, given Ricciardo’s decision to quit did not go down well with the Renault hierarchy. However, Alpine’s team management has since changed and they could be left facing a driver market limbo if they lose Piastri.
Speaking prior to the Piastri development on Tuesday, Szafnauer did not rule out a return for Ricciardo.
Plenty more twists and turns are likely before this driver market drama is resolved.
Wins don’t come much more emphatic than from 10th on the grid at the Hungaroring.
Max Verstappen’s against-the-odds victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix was only the fourth time someone’s won in Budapest starting further back than the front two rows. Not only was it a clear underline on Red Bull Racing’s superiority in the 2022 championship race, it was also a neat encapsulation of the entire season to date as the sport heads into the mid-season break.
It featured a wildly slow then unexpectedly and inexplicably fast Mercedes that threatened to win the race but ultimately couldn’t manage it.
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It featured Ferrari somehow fumbling what should’ve been an unimpeachable pace advantage early in the weekend to finish off the podium and denying it lacks operational sharpness.
And as its centrepiece it featured Red Bull Racing executing most effectively, Verstappen seizing his opportunities and both ending Sunday with enhanced points leads.
You almost don’t need to have seen any other race this year to understand where the championship stands and predict where it’ll head when racing resumes at the end of August after the mid-season break.
REMINDER: FERRARI TARGETED TO ONE-TWO
There’s no team that needs the mid-season break more urgently than Ferrari, which contributed yet another way to ship more points to Red Bull Racing and Verstappen in an already bleak title campaign.
All this despite having explicitly targeted a one-two finish just days earlier.
It won’t shock you to know that the team’s embarrassing loss came mainly from the pit wall.
Slow pit stops meant it took longer for Leclerc to pass pole-getter Russell than it should have, and it cost Sainz the opportunity to pass the Briton at all.
It then made the fatal error of swapping Leclerc onto the unfancied hard tire for his final stint in a hasty attempt to cover the undercutting Verstappen — despite the fact every other car that had used the tire was struggling badly for grip.
Not only did it cost him the lead, but he was forced into making a third stop that left him an almost unbelievable sixth at the flag.
Ferrari protested after the race that the problem wasn’t its strategy but the car, which in the cooler Sunday conditions wasn’t exhibiting the dominant edge it enjoyed during Friday practice.
Leclerc burnt by ANOTHER Ferrari blunder | 01:14
“Certainly we didn’t have the performance we were expecting,” team boss Mattia Binotto told Sky Sports. “Whatever the tyres, somehow the performance of our cars was not as expected.
“Today the car was not behaving well, I think that’s the point.”
Binotto isn’t wrong to make that argument, but he is exaggerating. Ferrari was slower than it was on Friday, but it was still the fastest car on track.
We can make a like-for-like comparison between Leclerc and Verstappen on the medium tire in the middle of the race, Even accounting for the Dutchman’s older rubber, the Monegasque was still quicker, or at least quick enough to take him on directly.
But the team let itself be spooked by Verstappen’s second undercut attempt with 32 laps to go. Rather than race to its own pace, run deep and switch to softs — which it did with Sainz — it brought Leclerc in immediately for the hard tire and suffered the consequences.
“I felt very strong on the medium. Everything was under control,” Leclerc told Sky Sports. “I don’t know why we needed to go on the hard.
“I said on the radio I was very comfortable on the medium and I wanted to go as long as possible on those tires because the feeling was good. I don’t know why we made a different decision.”
So really there are two key mistakes here. One is coolness under pressure in reading the race, and the other is misunderstanding the hard tyre, which the team thought would warm up after 10 laps but which in reality was never going to be effective. It’s not the first time it’s committed either foul this season.
Leclerc left Budapest with a whopping 80-point deficit to Verstappen and Ferrari is now 97 points adrift of Red Bull Racing. More worrying still, the team’s just 30 points ahead of Mercedes.
And with performance like that, would you be willing to back Ferrari to hold second?
Max & Lewis chuckle at Ferrari’s tactics | 00:33
MAX VERSTAPPEN PUTS ONE HAND ON THE TROPHY
If Charles Leclerc’s solo crash at the French Grand Prix effectively decided the destination of the title, Verstappen’s slick victory in Budapest gave him a chance to put one hand on the trophy.
An 80-point advantage is more than three clear race victories. He can now afford to finish second to Leclerc at every race, including the sprint in Brazil, and ship the point for fastest lap and he still won’t lose the title lead before the end of the season.
Before the mid-season break he’s been able to put the fate of the drivers championship completely in his own hands. No mean feat.
After last season’s down-to-the-wire blockbuster finale, you’ll be concerned to know we can start counting down the points needed to win the championship.
With nine rounds remaining, Verstappen can win the championship with just five more victories even if Leclerc finishes second to him in all of them. That puts him on track to claim the crown at the Japanese Grand Prix.
And perhaps Verstappen winning the next five races is unlikely — he’s yet to win more than three in a row this season — but with Mercedes potentially in the mix, he may have a team to pick points off Ferrari and Leclerc, in which case just finishing with one or two cars between him and the Monegasque regardless of their finishing position would probably be enough to get the job done.
The weekend wasn’t perfect of course. A power unit problem was part of the reason he qualified poorly, and a clutch issue spun him around in the race, temporarily costing him the lead. He’ll also need to serve a penalty for a new power unit at some point in the second half of the year, having installed his third and final motor this weekend.
But the gap is easily wide enough to absorb that pressure, and with Leclerc needing at least one more round of power unit penalties, it’s extremely difficult to imagine a scenario in which Verstappen doesn’t win the title with at least two rounds to spare
Max spins but still wins in Hungary | 01:11
MERCEDES UNEXPECTEDLY FAST BUT UNSURE ABOUT PERMANENCE
Mercedes arrived in Budapest in the brace position, appeared to be justified by its lackluster Friday performance, but by the end of the weekend it had collected its first pole of the year with George Russell and a second straight double podium.
Lewis Hamilton had even been on a late an unlikely charge for victory that team boss Toto Wolff said could’ve ended in success had he qualified higher up the grid rather than suffer a DRS failure in Q3.
What’s more, the Hungaroring layout should have been a struggle circuit for the car, which tends to prefer faster tracks — Hamilton almost won at Silverstone, both drivers showed good pace in Austria before crashing out of qualifying, and the team got both cars onto the podium in France.
Wolff, however, said it was less a case of not understanding the reasons for its speed in Budapest but rather figuring out if those reasons applied universally or only to the specific characteristics of the Hungaroring.
“It’s not that we have no clue why the car has been fast,” Wolff said, per The Race.
“We had directions during the season where we believed it would unlock the potential of the car, and it didn’t.
“So here we have another direction, and that was very quick on the stopwatch.
“But I don’t want to have another false dawn and we come to the realization tomorrow and Spa that it didn’t reap the benefits that we were hoping to have.
“In that respect, let’s just wait and see where this is going.”
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In that respect Mercedes must be frustrated to have to wait three weeks to try to validate its progress, though the triple-header comprising three distinct track types will be the ultimate test of its solution.
The team is long out of championship contention, but the W13’s fortunes are still relevant to the title outcome.
Potentially now quick enough to contend for regular merited podiums and perhaps victories at some tracks, how well Mercedes does on any given weekend will decide three things: how soon Verstappen wins the title — or, if you’re extremely optimistic, whether he wins the title; where Ferrari will finish in the constructors standings; and whether Leclerc will finish second in the drivers standings.
George Russell is now just 20 points behind Leclerc in the battle for a second, with Hamilton 12 points further back, and the team is now only 30 points short of Ferrari in the teams title battle.
It’s too late for the major prizes, but the minor placings are still very much up for grabs.
McLAREN STILL IN TOUCH FOR FOURTH DESPITE RICCIARDO PENALTY
The battle for best of the midfield is similarly still very much alive, with McLaren maintaining its four-point deficit to Alpine in fourth on the constructors title table.
Ricciardo pulls off epic double pass | 00:46
This was an improved weekend for Woking, one week after it introduced its major upgrade package at the French Grand Prix. Not only did Lando Norris again outqualify both French cars, but this week he retained his place ahead of them despite a slow first pit stop, ensuring maximum midfield points with seventh place.
He had Alpine’s unlikely one-stop strategy to thank in part. Alpine did n’t have a second set of medium tires for either driver, having burnt through them during practice, and so he had little choice but to go long, meaning he neither could challenge the leading Briton.
Daniel Ricciardo was the only weak point for McLaren. The Australian had been marginally off Norris’s pace through the race but quick enough to be running behind him before the first stops, even makingthat excellent double pass around the two battling Alpine drivers to hold the place.
But his struggles really started during his final stint on the hard tire and intensified once he was lapped, costing him precious tire temperature each time he was waved a blue flag.
The lack of grip on the white-walled tire was also behind him running wide and into Lance Stroll at turn 2, earning him a five-second penalty, when he was trying to let the Canadian by.
It left him out of the points, allowing a superb drive by Sebastian Vettel to be rewarded by one point, the German having recovered from 18th by avoiding that troublesome hard tire.
