Daniel Ricciardo way overrated.

The Lando question is a good one. My best guess: he’s awaiting an open space with one of the top 3 teams.

Having said that, it is also not 100% clear to me how they are evaluate him. Lewis and others have had kind words, and he does appear to be dragging speed out of the McLaren these days. But there is the pesky matter of that first win - and some might be asking whether he has the personality to be an effective F1 team leader …

 

You seem upset because Ricciardo will get the elbow, and McLaren chose Piastri to replace him. Any reason ?
Now over 30, he looks to have lost his mojo (Raikkonen-like), so what would you do in Zak's shoes?
The solution is to try a new talent, keep him if it works, and replace him if it doesn't.
A team principal isn't a social worker having to put up with driver's "issues".
I mean Red Bull does it all the time without much criticism, so why can't McLaren act the same?

What's the financial risk for McLaren? They can keep Ricciardo on "gardening leaves" in 2023 so he can't drive anywhere, or if he wants a quick release to join another team, his redundancy package will be reduced through negotiatons with his new employer. No biggie, it happens all the time in the corporate world.

BTW, sacking Ricciardo for Piastri cannot be worse than sacking Damon Hill on his way to a WDC Crown to take Frentzen, which is exactly what Frank Williams did back in 1997.

 

Agree here. You're getting somewhat of an unknown vs. a known meaning we don't know what Pisaster can do in an F1 car where the pressure cooker is maxed out vs. Ricciardo's know value which is that with the exception of a flash of performance here or there, he's basically a mid-packer who will... but sometimes won't even score any points.

I'm not a fan of Pisaster at all., however. I always wondered what Stoffel Vandoorn could do in F1 today in a remotely decent car. I like him a lot and thought he sort of got railroaded.

 

I would love for my work to offer me this pay out.

 

They can release who they want. I stated what I see as the larger picture for them. Zack not really moving the team forward so far, millions wasted terminating a driver experiment and Norris who is talented yet not making any progress in a team not moving forward. Talented he is and he has eyes and management. I said nothng about crying over Daniel LOL. As I stated its F1 - he has not adapted well. That happens. It does not make him some kind of terrorist as he is portrayed around this semi toxic place lol. in this car he has declined, in another he may thrive NO ONE HERE can predict that.

 

Good for him and he should get every penny. Mclaren breaks contract, Ric does not.

 

I would tend to agree...on principle.
Since we do not know what's in his contract (anybody here has ever SEEN an F1 driver's contract? I remember an article in "Motorsport Magazine" in which Martin Whitmarsh disclosed a draft of what was the "standard" frame contract at McLaren at the time: i.e, before being "redacted" to be adapted to any specific driver)
we therefore cannot know if there is any form of an "exit clause" performance or results-oriented that might be activated by any of the parties, so...we probably will not know.
As usual...

Rgds

 

See? Already the numbers don't really add up. According to this article (according to it...) he has asked £ 13.25, which is about € 16...

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1009883/1/fascinating-finances-making-it-cheaper-mclaren-pay-ricciardo


Daniel Ricciardo: McLaren know it is cheaper to pay him off than to keep him for 2023 - this is why…
F1 Desk 10 Aug 2022

Daniel Ricciardo’s contract with McLaren reportedly includes interesting clauses which mean it is now cheaper for the team to pay him off than to keep him. Ricciardo has demanded £13.25m to bring an early end to his contract with McLaren, which is currently due to expire after the 2023 season, according to Speedcafe. Only the driver has the right to end the contract early, not the team, the report says, which is why Ricciardo is negotiating a pay-off.

It is cheaper for McLaren to pay Ricciardo off, and pay the salary of his replacement Oscar Piastri, than it would be to keep Ricciardo for 2023, according to French sports business website Sportune.fr. That is reportedly because Ricciardo’s salary, on his current contract, is due to increase next season.

He penned a three-year deal with McLaren in 2020 - the agreement was for him to be paid an estimated £12.2m in each of the first two seasons. This year, that makes him the joint-fifth highest earner on the F1 grid. His teammate Lando Norris is already earning an estimated £20m per season, with four more years still to run on his current contract.

McLaren intend to pay Ricciardo a settlement equivalent to 50 percent of his contracted 2023 salary, Sportune.fr report.

In total, McLaren believe that Ricciardo’s pay-off, plus Piastri’s salary for 2023, plus compensation to Alpine (who insist Piastri is already under contract with them), would total an estimated €19m (£16m) - that is still less than keeping Ricciardo as their driver for next season.

Rgds

 

I'm basing my comments on this:

Option for Ricciardo to leave McLaren is his, not the team’s - The Race (the-race.com)

If it's true that it's purely up to Ricciardo to leave earlier (somewhat strange I admit), then Mclaren made a huge error and will pay heavily for signing a driver to replace Ricciardo whilst he's still under contract.

Of course Ricciardo has plenty of evidence that he's been asked to help Norris, which directly impacts his own race results as well and could use that as ammo if things turn nasty.

 

Yep Bas, but your too old at this game of hide and seek in Formula One not to know that without having seen the contract itself (and having it studied by a specialist in contract's law...) we will never now. A bit of sabre-rattling here at the moment right now, but the final numbers will probably not be known...

Rgds

 

Compensations terms are usually included in most contracts, and in any case the tribunal can deliberate in case of unfair dismissal.
I don't think money is a problem there. But bruised ego is! Being "terminated" by McLaren affects Ricciardo's reputation, for a start.

Any sacking as some undertone of incompetence, and it won't be the best line on his CV.
It may perhaps prevent him finding another seat in a different series or affect his market value, etc ... Time will tell.

 

Most likely not, he'll get a competitive seat tomorrow in Indy, Le Mans or E-formula no problem. His stock is down in F1 fur sure, but he is still top echelon everywhere else.

 

I think he could have been great. Something went really wrong this year.

 

Forget the loyalty bit, McLaren sucks big time, Piastri has made a BIG mistake, I see Dan "coming" home and Ocon getting whipped again

 

Yes, the comparison with Norris does Ricciardo no favour. McLaren has lost patience, IMO.

Another example of a new driver beating his most experienced team mate.

But wait ... that's exactly what Ricciardo did to Vettel when he joined Red Bull !!

 

true...true...

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-ricciardo-sees-perez-as-proof-of-how-quickly-f1-careers-can-turnaround/10354751/

Why Ricciardo sees Perez as proof of how quickly F1 careers can turnaround
Daniel Ricciardo says the turnaround in Sergio Perez’s career serves as proof of how quickly things can change in Formula 1.


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By: Luke Smith
Aug 21, 2022, 1:19 PM
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Ricciardo looks set to leave McLaren at the end of the 2022 season as the team looks to agree terms to end his contract early, having swooped to sign Oscar Piastri to partner Lando Norris.

It will bring to an end two difficult seasons for Ricciardo at McLaren, where despite scoring the team’s first victory in almost nine years at Monza last year, he has struggled to match Norris for form.

McLaren has been clear in its long-term plan to return to the top of F1, investing in new facilities including an on-site windtunnel at Woking and making other improvements so it can fight with the bigger teams under the budget cap.

Speaking to Autosport ahead of the summer break and before McLaren’s plans to cut ties were known, Riccardo noted that while long-term projects take time to build, things can also change very quickly - using Perez’s recent career turn at Red Bull as proof.

“I was saying it when I was 27, ‘ah, I’m getting older!’ - in a way, yes, I’m getting older, but I think also I know a bit more about the sport now, and I know that things do take time,” Ricciardo said.

“We all believe we can win. So it’s like, well I want to win tomorrow, but it’s not always like that. Even now, talking about 2024 or '25, in a way it’s hard to think that far ahead. But it’ll come around quickly.

“You also take like little things from if it’s a Perez, when his career looked over, and now he’s potentially fighting for a world championship. The sport can change so quickly.”

 

Ricciardo is clutching a straw here. He still cannot explain why he is so far behind Norris, most of the time.

 

We expect to know everything. We dont. He has alluded to braking etc. Its a black art and he is suffering in this change. Not the first, not the last. Im certain he wants to do better. I feel he is a competitor. If he is in another team I hope he can improve. If not he has experienced a good life in F1. Wins etc. Not many make it as far as he has.

What he can or cannot explain is not being told to us. Yet we have all the answers LOL

 

Ricciardo blames the car, but the car seems fine for Norris. Only the results matters for McLaren.

 

To be fair, Norris also complains about the car being difficult to drive

 

Possibly, but he manages to extract more from it !

Norris is 7th in the WDC at the moment with 76 pts, Ricciardo 12th with 19 pts.

So far this season, Norris has gathered 4 times more points than Ricciardo !!!

 

Its not blame. Its about his interaction with it and the responses it gives. His explanation is clear in recent press Ive posted.

 

Well, Ricciardo can sugarcoat it as much as he wants, the bottom line is that he doesn't deliver to McLaren's expectations.

Ricciardo is maybe a nice guy, but from a team's perspective, results is all that matters,

 

I like Desi a ton but I knew Mclaren would be trouble.
He’s been a runner from everywhere when his teammate proved faster and I was kind of pleased for him he seemed to find a home at Renault (of all places) where he fell into #1 status easier than Jabouille when there was only 1 tea-kettle to DNF.

Heading to Landoland - where the kid was really quick, only getting quicker and fully ensconced within the team- was going to be enough of a struggle. Loading the the ‘Instant Team Leader/conquering hero’ title on him before he squeezed his fat bum on the seat was pure INXS without Hutchence. Never going to work.

Although DR might have thought it was within his grasp, Norris is too just good and as mentioned, being constantly outqualified is not Dan’s thing, but who can blame him for taking the cash and suffering the consequences? Not I.

As for Piastri, he’s proven very competitive when in the best car in lesser formulae, comes highly touted and is the leading young light right now. Mclaren obviously has enough dosh for a fair amount of demolished cars next season AND DR’s broken contract. For all the protests, not having to drive as butler to #1 for all of 2023 must have a nice ring to it.

Piastri will finish behind Norris in ‘23 (by the same amount of points as the current driver) and Desi can start negotiating early for a Florida abode . Win/Win.