Nicholas Latifi – Michmutters
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F1 2022, Daniel Ricciardo, contract, driver market, silly season, rumors McLaren, Oscar Piastri, Alpine

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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‘DONE DIRTY’: F1 world reacts to McLaren sacking Daniel Ricciardo

EVERYTHING WORKED OUT: Former Alpine junior relieved to have escaped team’s driver management roster

STITCHED UP DOWN UNDER? The former Aussie aced orchestrating Piastri’s Ricciardo switch

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 / AFP
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.

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F1 2022, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, Alpine, Oscar Piastri, driver market, silly season, contracts

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?

MORE MOTORSPORTS

NO DEAL: Piastri denies he’ll race for Alpine next season, but Enstone hits back

REVEALED: How F1 star’s exit left team blindsided — and the big ‘question’ hanging over Aussie

ALONSO OUT: Why the two-time champion is moving to the second-worst team on the grid

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.

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Max Verstappen wins, Daniel Ricciardo position, Ferrari strategy blunder, standings, points

World champion Max Verstappen fully exploited another Ferrari flop to pull 80 points clear of Charles Leclerc in this year’s title race with an emphatic Red Bull triumph in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Just a week after his crushing win at the French Grand Prix, where Leclerc crashed out of the lead, the 24-year-old Dutchman scored his first win at the Hungaroring, his eighth this year and the 28th of his career.

Starting from 10th on the grid, after engine problems in qualifying on Saturday required a new power unit, he sliced ​​through the field to finish 7.8 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who had started from his maiden pole position.

That was despite a 360 degree spin on lap 40 from which he managed to recover from.

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‘LET’S F***ING GO!’ Ricciardo nails insane double overtake before penalty drama strikes

“When we woke up this morning who would have thought we would win this race?” said the Dutchman.

With Russell on pole and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Leclerc second and third on the grid, pre-race forecasts made the Italian team favorites to control and win with some ease as the Red Bulls were 10th and 11th.

But a combination of poor tire management, slow pit-stops and questionable strategy saw them finish fifth and sixth, behind Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull, who started 11th, after looking likely winners.

“I was hoping I could get close to a podium, but it was very tricky out there,” said Verstappen.

Max Verstappen is running away with the championship.
Max Verstappen is running away with the championship.Source: AFP

“But we had a really good strategy, we were really reactive, always pitting at the right time.” Hamilton, who started seventh was seeking to increase his record haul of eight Hungarian wins, registered his fifth consecutive podium and a successive second position.

“I was definitely struggling at the beginning, but bit by bit I got more comfortable with the balance,” he said.

“I had a really good start so I want to acknowledge my team. We’ve had a tough year and for both cars to be on the podium is an amazing way to go into the summer break.

“The other guys have an edge, but we are clearly closing the gap. Hopefully, we can bring some more into the second half of the season and start fighting with them.”

It was an up-and-down race for Daniel Ricciardo who executed a stunning double overtake on both Alpines and yelled “let’s f***ing go”, but had his race ruined after an incident with Lance Stroll.

Ricciardo made contact with the Aston Martin and was handed a five-second penalty for causing the collision. He also struggled with the harder tire and continued to slip down the field, eventually finishing in a lowly 15th position.

His teammate Lando Norris finished seventh.

– ‘I was confused’ –

Russell, who led for 30 laps, said he had a strong first stint, but that he struggled on the medium compound tires and lost temperature in the closing laps.

“But it’s been an amazing job by the team to have pole position and a double podium – we are definitely making progress. I am really proud of the work everyone has done.”

Both Sainz and Leclerc were disappointed by their results.

“I felt very strong and very comfortable on the mediums,” said Leclerc who led the race and looked likely to win before a pit-stop to switch unexpectedly to hard tyres.

“I wanted to stay out and I don’t know why I was called in. I was confused by that.

“I lost the race on the hard tires and I don’t know why. We need to speak about this inside the team.”

He added: “Honestly, the pace on my side, I was pretty happy, the only thing is that everybody will remember the last part of the race where it was a disaster for me, especially the hard – that’s why I lost the race basically .”

Sainz said he felt he was slower than expected.

“It is what it is,” he said. “We struggled as a team and in the lower temperatures the track changed and the car and the tires did not perform.

“We need to analyze this to see what we did wrong and, after the summer break, come back with a better package. We have to speak about it inside the team to get to do this better.” Ferrari team chief Mattia Binotto defended the team’s decisions.

“We didn’t have the performance we expected and the car was not performing well in the cooler conditions,” he said. “It’s the first time this season.

“We did not have the edge today. We believed we could do it, but it did not work out as we were expecting. Sometimes, we can make mistakes, but I fully support the team.”

HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS

1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1hr 39min 35.912sec

2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) at 7.834sec

3. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 12,337

4. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) 14,579

5. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) 15,688

6. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 16,047

7. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:18.300

8. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) 1 lap

9. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1 lap

10. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1 lap

11. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1 lap

12. Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1 lap

13. Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo) 1 lap

14. Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 1 lap

15. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1 lap

16. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) 1 lap

17. Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) 1 lap

18. Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) 1 lap

19. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 2 laps

20. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo) 5 laps

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:21.386 on 57th lap (average speed: 260.580 km/h)

Did not finish: Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo)

World championship standings (after 13 races)

drivers

1. Max Verstappen (NED) 258pts

2. Charles Leclerc (MON) 178

3. Sergio Perez (MEX) 173

4. George Russell (GBR) 158

5. Carlos Sainz (ESP) 156

6. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 146

7. Lando Norris (GBR) 76

8. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 58

9. Valtteri Bottas (END) 46

10. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 41

11. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 22

12. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 19

13. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 16

14. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 16

15. Mick Schumacher (GER) 12

16. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) 11

17. Zhou Guanyu (CHN) 5

18. Lance Stroll (CAN) 4

19. Alexander Albon (THA) 3

20. Nicholas Latifi (CAN) 0

21. Nico Hulkenberg (GER) 0

builders

1. Red Bull 431pts

2.Ferrari 334

3.Mercedes 304

4.Alpine-Renault 99

5. McLaren-Mercedes 95

6.Alfa Romeo 51

7. Haas-Ferrari 34

8. AlphaTauri-Red Bull 27

9. Aston Martin-Mercedes 20

10. Williams-Mercedes 3

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