According to reports, it’s only Daniel Ricciardo who has the power to end his contract with the McLaren F1 Team given his termination clause due to the ongoing issues.
Daniel Ricciardo is off to a bad start in the 2022 season, with tensions between him and the McLaren F1 Team rising. McLaren CEO Zak Brown is rumoured to be disillusioned with the Australian and is seeking for a successor in IndyCar, according to reports.
However, according to Scott Mitchell of The Race, only Ricciardo has the authority to terminate their contract.
“It’s Ricciardo with the option of triggering a break clause,” Mitchell reported. “So whether Ricciardo’s 2023 contract is upheld seems to be down to him.”
“It seems to be his choice to make, at least. And it’s worth noting he has so far had nothing bad to say about how McLaren has treated him, or the effort it is putting in to help him turn things around.”
“That’s important because how Ricciardo feels within McLaren will inform his decision. Either McLaren will decide to persevere to the very end or it will conclude this just isn’t working out and that it’s in its best interest if Ricciardo leaves. It could then try to encourage Ricciardo to do that.”
McLaren has made no secret of their dissatisfaction with the Honey Badger, with Brown informing the press that Ricciardo “had not met expectations” as Ricciardo has only one top 10 finish after seven rounds and is way behind his teammate Lando Norris in the championship standings.
Ricciardo has only 11 points this season, compared to 48 points for Lando Norris and the Australian is well aware that things aren’t going well right now, with his McLaren career still in its early stages. Apart from his triumph at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, Ricciardo’s past season was abysmal for a driver of his calibre.
Ricciardo admitted that he is in a “battle,” but the Australian is hoping to improve in the next races.
“For me at the moment to get up to that, to push my car on the limit and to get it out of myself, it’s still a little bit of a difficulty or a battle,” he said. “I say a little bit it is, obviously. So it’s now really just trying to keep picking it apart and I’ll also try and learn from last year.”
“This is unfortunately known territory from 12 months ago. I think there’s things we did well in these situations and things that we probably look back on and say we could have probably done it differently.”
“That’s where I’ll try and attack it in a more productive way,” Ricciardo concluded.
