According to Australian media reports, Daniel Ricciardo is looking for a massive payout to get out of his McLaren contract.
While Ricciardo still has the third year of his three-year contract with McLaren still to run, the Woking outfit appear set to replace the Australian driver in 2023.
Due to his lackluster season and a half since joining McLaren, Ricciardo has ended up being part of F1’s silly season this year despite having a contract for next year, due to the apparent arrival of Oscar Piastri.
According to reputable Australian publication Speedcafe, Ricciardo has demanded $21 million from McLaren to walk away from the team next year, leaving no further obstacles to the arrival of his replacement.
Speedcafe also reports that they understand that Ricciardo is the only party entitled to cancel his contract, with no cancellation conditions open to McLaren.
Ricciardo’s $21 million asking price from McLaren is dependent on him finishing the season without driving in F1. If he were to sign with another team, the salary he would be paid ($21 million or less) by that team would be reimbursed to McLaren.
However, it is unlikely that the $21 million will end up being the final settlement figure; it could be much less once the haggling is over.
The arrival of Oscar Piastri marks the end of Ricciardo
While Ricciardo appears to have an airtight contract with McLaren that he will have to pay, the situation has only come to light because of the ongoing dispute over Piastri’s future. Ricciardo’s compatriot, Piastri is the current Formula 2 champion and is part of the Alpine Driver Academy.
Alpine announced Piastri as a driver for 2023 last week, replacing the departing Fernando Alonso. Piastri immediately denied the signing, saying he has not signed a contract with the Enstone team and “will not be riding for Alpine next year”.
Given his position as a rookie not yet in F1, Piastri’s comments suggested he has signed a contract with another team, which appears to be McLaren, instead of Ricciardo.
With two teams fighting over who gets Piastri, a dispute that is likely to head to the civil courts, Ricciardo has become an unwanted piece of furniture that McLaren now has to pay an exorbitant amount for moving costs .
Ricciardo repeats the dismissal of Raikkonen
The situation Daniel Ricciardo finds himself in is almost identical to the one Ferrari found himself in during 2009.
On that occasion, Ferrari wanted to bring Fernando Alonso, supposedly alongside 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen. However, with Raikkonen coming off the boil in 2008 and playing second fiddle to Felipe Massa, the Brazilian’s serious crash in Hungary in 2009 made Ferrari realize they could not drop Massa without a bad press
Add to this that both had contracts valid for 2010: Massa signed his deal in 2007 and Raikkonen’s in 2008.
Alonso’s arrival also saw the signing of major sponsor Santander, meaning Ferrari were willing to throw money at the problem, the ‘problem’ now being that they had three drivers lined up for 2010.
Raikkonen was the underdog at the time, with Ferrari giving him around £20 million not to race in 2010. To get that money, Raikkonen couldn’t race for another F1 team, which was ” It’s a particularly big concern for the Finn: he went quickly to the World Rally Championship and presumably bathed in nothing but tickets for the year.
However, in Ferrari’s case, they were trading one proven world champion for another. In McLaren’s case, they are looking to trade a well-loved and established (albeit struggling) race winner for a driver who has yet to turn an F1 steering wheel in anger.
That will mean spending a lot of money to pay Ricciardo, pay all the legal fees associated with signing Piastri, and then pay Piastri himself. The big question… is it worth it?