Daniel Riccardo: I don’t know what to expect yet

Following news that Daniel Ricciardo and the McLaren team have decided to part ways before the contract expires at the end of this year, the Australian driver spoke to fans, assuring them that “it’s not over yet”, although he doesn’t yet. know what the next stage of his career is.

Daniel Riccardo: “All this is of course not very healthy and leaves an aftertaste of bitterness, but despite the fact that both sides put in a lot of effort, we still did not manage to achieve what we wanted.

After much discussion, we jointly decided to part ways, it will be better for everyone. Of course I will continue to do my best until the end of this year. As for the future, I don’t know what awaits me yet.

Let’s see. I remember working with McLaren – I learned a lot about myself, and all this will help me not only in the next phase of my career, but in life in general.

I was unable to consistently show the results I was aiming for. Because of this, there were serious difficulties on some weekends, and of course I felt it. But I will also have a lot of good memories of the team – of course I mean Monza, where I was at the top of the podium when I took the first win for the team since 2012.

It was unforgettable, so there were a lot of good things too. I still love Formula 1, and what happens to my attitude to the sport doesn’t affect it. I still feel this fire and continue to believe in myself – that I am capable of performing at the highest level.

I just want to say that I appreciate your support, which I felt in moments of success, and in times of failure, and in general always. Nothing is ready yet – there will be seen what awaits me.

Possible options are very actively discussed in the press and Riccardo has already indicated in an interview with The Age that he will not continue his career in a weak team where there is no real chance of success.

The same Australian newspaper lists four scenarios that can now be discussed. Firstly, Daniel can return to the Renault works team and his management is already in talks with Alpine management.

He could go to Haas – in theory this option cannot be ruled out, especially as Gunther Steiner seemed interested in Riccardo. One of the arguments for this scenario might be Daniel’s popularity in the US, and the arrival of a rider of this caliber could give the US team a new boost. It remains to be seen, of course, to what extent the prospects of collaborating with her will seem convincing to him.

Ricciardo could just sit next season hoping 2024 teams might have attractive jobs, but that’s an even riskier move for the 33-year-old. However, Kimi Raikkonen once proved that you can win races even after a break in his career, and an even more recent example from Fernando Alonso suggests that it is entirely possible to race at a high level in Formula 1 even at the age of 40.

Finally, Daniel may decide to end his World Championship career in order to continue it, for example in the US, although experts agree that so far this is unlikely. On the one hand, he repeatedly confessed his love for NASCAR, on the other, he didn’t hide that racing on ovals “frightens him a little”.

It must be assumed that the Australian will give serious thought to the fact that it is time to overcome such fears, not until all options for staying in F1 have been exhausted. In addition, he probably now wants to prove to Zack Brown and Andreas Seidl that they were still wrong when they decided to refuse his services.