F1 boss provides reason for Daniel Ricciardo REPLACEMENT

Daniel Ricciardo, VCARB, Visa, RB, China, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 boss provides reason for Ricciardo REPLACEMENT

Daniel Ricciardo has suffered some setbacks in recent years

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 13 May 2024 22:01 Updated: 12:28

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Daniel Ricciardo's former boss Zak Brown has explained the thought process behind the Australian's replacement back in 2022.

Having made the switch from Red Bull to Renault ahead of 2019, Ricciardo found himself at McLaren in 2021 in the hope of returning right to the very front once more.

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That happened at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, when Ricciardo managed to claim his first race victory since leaving Red Bull, an achievement that remains his most recent win in the sport.

However, following a thoroughly disappointing 2022, McLaren decided to release Ricciardo from his contract a year early in order to sign Ricciardo's compatriot and talented young star Oscar Piastri, who has gone on to form one of the most enviable driver pairings on the grid alongside Lando Norris.

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Norris' team-mate battles

Ricciardo, meanwhile, has found himself back with the team with whom his career started, now called Visa Cash App RB, but has struggled to perform since his return to the grid, prompting suggestions that his time in F1 could be coming to an end.

McLaren CEO Brown was speaking about star driver Norris off the back of his maiden grand prix victory, and the different ways in which his three McLaren team-mates to date have tried to match his pace, suggesting Ricciardo didn't put enough pressure on the young Brit.

“Carlos [Sainz] and him [Lando Norris] were very even from a standings point of view,” Brown reflected on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.

“Lando came in as the rookie and was comfortable being the rookie and didn’t feel that pressure that there was on the other side.

“Carlos was in his fifth season and Lando could handle him. Daniel didn’t put him [Norris] under pressure and it probably helped his confidence a lot.

“Daniel is an incredible race driver and a lot of people thought he was going to show Lando how things are done, and in the end it was the other way around.

“He beat Daniel, a driver with seven victories in Formula 1 [at the time]. Now, he is not so focused on his team-mate, he is more on himself.”