According to McLaren CEO Zak Brown, there were talks with Daniel Ricciardo about a prospective 2023 move to the IndyCar series.
This comes after the Woking-based team revealed on Wednesday that the Australian would conclude his contract early and depart at the conclusion of the 2022 season. Although Ricciardo has not publicly stated his ambitions for the 2023 season, he has been linked to Alpine and Haas move.
Prior to joining McLaren, the 33-year-old competed for Alpine in the years 2019 and 2020 under the Renault banner. McLaren will be replacing Mercedes as it leaves Formula E at the conclusion of the 2021–22 season, and McLaren already has a team set up in IndyCar.
Although Ricciardo and Brown discussed a potential IndyCar ride for the next season, according to Brown, he is more concerned with staying in Formula 1.
“We spoke about that [an IndyCar switch],” Brown said. “He’s an exceptional racing driver any team he drives for, it’s a privilege to have Daniel drive for you.
“We do have a variety of racing activities. That being said, he’s very focused on F1, so of course the door will always be open here at McLaren, but I believe that he has a real desire to continue in F1.”
Brown claims that there are no ill will between the two despite ending their relationship much earlier.
“I’m going to look back with some very fond memories, some fun times together on and off the track,” Brown added. “We’re in a business, where Andreas and everybody here at McLaren needs to focus on ultimate performance.”
“We hope and wish Daniel the best… There’s absolutely no ill will between us… It’s all very amicable.”
“He too has had a good time at McLaren and he’s young, so we hope to see him in a competitive racing car and one of these days, we might see him being a pain for us on the race track and that will be fun because he’s a great competitor.”
