The contract clause that could shake up F1 even more... and muddle Ricciardo's future.
“He’s been competitive since the start of the year, so yeah, no surprise on that side. That is that the team is placed higher than AlphaTauri on the standings and Alpine, currently sitting in fourth in the constructors’ championship, would fit that bill. A report back in June from RacingNews365claimed that AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly has a clause in his contract that would allow him to join a rival team in 2023 — with one condition.
Formula One's chaotic silly season of drivers switching teams has taken a bigger-than-ever twist.
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DANIEL RICCIARDO appears set to leave McLaren at the end of the year with Oscar Piastri reportedly replacing him.
Ricciardo had made it clear that summer that he wanted to leave Red Bull for a new challenge and eventually signed a deal with Renault. Only a few drivers are signed up beyond the 2023 campaign and the biggest seat potentially becoming available would be Lewis Hamilton's at Mercedes. It now appears as though Piastri will be driving alongside Lando Norris next year, leaving Ricciardo without a seat for the 2023 campaign.
The controversy of Daniel Ricciardo's contract with McLaren hasn't deterred Optus from resigning the F1 driver as an ambassador.
Ricciardo did not comment directly on the ongoing reports about his contract in a video he filmed over the weekend about his renewed partnership. The telco is one of several sponsors of Ricciardo, who has also worked with carsales.com, Go Pro, Puma and Blue Coast. He was estimated to be worth about $50 million in 2021, with an annual salary of $15 million. “We look forward to Daniel showing the global Formula 1 community exactly what has made our favourite honey badger so formidable.”
Let me kick this off by stating I love Daniel Ricciardo and Formula 1 is far more enjoyable with his infectious smile and paddock pranks.
But McLaren opting to go with Piastri is the correct move. Norris has been commendable throughout 2022, finishing outside the top nine on only three occasions – one of which was a DNF. In qualifying the numbers are even more bleak for the Aussie, with Norris holding an 11-2 advantage. Ricciardo scored McLaren’s last Grand Prix victory when he crossed the line ahead of Norris in Italy last year. He only finished outside the top 10 on three occasions — one of which was a DNF. Poor is being very generous, but you get the idea.