I don't expect a driver with no F1 experience to be very competitive in his first year. Piastri seemed a better prospect: he has been groomed and trained by Alpine these 2 last years, we are told. . Why couldn't McLaren get him after this shenanigan, I don't know.
Sad to see Ricci go, but he was outclassed by Norris and has lost the edge. He’s in decline. I’d very surprised if McLaren let him go without having a solid replacement plan. They aren’t complete amateurs. The next announcement from them will be very interesting.
Yep, it’s all BS PR eyewash. It just makes Brown look weak(er). Why make any statement beyond the facts: “He’s leaving. We wish him well.” The End. Brown makes it sound like he and DannyBoy tried couples therapy but it just didn’t work out…
I get the sense that Brown is a genuinely good bloke and is legitimately disappointed it didn't work out. As for Ricciardo, so long. I've said it before and I'll say it again: His nonchalant jokester appearance in lieu of his struggle to perform made him very unlikeable. His entire tenure at McLaren presents as quiet quitting, and there's no place for that in Formula 1 when there is no shortage of drivers burning for seats.
Lewis already proved a driver can be very competitive during his first year if he has the potential and a good car. Piastri could be a very good surprise or not ..
I posted this in the Indycar thread, but the supposed rumor in the Nashville Indycar paddock last week was that while Chip Ganassi has sued Alex Palou, he hasn't sued the McLaren F1 team yet and the reason is because a deal has already been worked out between Ganassi, Zak Brown and Daniel Ricciardo. Daniel will take over the Jimmie Johnson car at Chip Ganassi Racing next year and will do all the Indy series road races, while Jimmie Johnson will do only the ovals. Daniel goes to a top Indycar team, Chip and Zak squash their potential lawsuit and Alex Palou essentially remains screwed (FE or test role of some sort).
Pulled this from the BBC HYS on Ricciardo announcement yesterday - I think it offers a good summary. No matter though, as the 'he is the end of the world as an F1 driver' clan here wont agree but its factual overall --Outperformed Vettel at RB, kept on the pace with Verstappen if not quuuite as consistent. Slow start at Renault but then started dragging the car to places it didn't really deserve, consistent points scorer in a bit of a dog of a car. Destroyed his team-mates. It didn't work out at McLaren but even then he won a race when he managed to make it work out for him. He's a top driver.--
I would assume Palou will then go to Mclaren still and Piastri to Alpine? Given that neither Alpine or Mclaren have announced anything...
So what does that makes of Lando Norris ? So far this year, he has scored 4 times more points than Ricciardo ( 76 to 19). Ricciardo isn't "cutting the mustard" anymore, perhaps it's the car, but I can understand McLaren wanting to try someone else.
Fully understand but Ricci is not the first good driver to suffer after changing teams. In fact his record of changing teams is 50/50 - did well at 1 and not well at another. Norris' record is good. Would he suffer if he left Mclaren. No one in the world knows. Mclaren I think have been more open than most and this is not the worst divorce on record. Not even close.
That's not the point. Norris, with less experience, has been performing better than Ricciardo, and there is no talk of him being "ditched".
Piastri to Alpine, a team he doesn't want to drive for ? That wouldn't be a very good recipe for success to have a driver reluctant to work for one team, would it? "You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."
Sorry to disagree mate, Kept on pace with Verstappen is not fair. Verstappen was 18-19 years old with barely no monoplace experience. The last year they were teammates was more representative with a 18-3 for Verstappen in quali. Ricciardo was Vettel level I guess which is not a drama but not a fuoriclasse.
Lando must be very hurt Ricci got a win in car Ricci could not well adapt to and its really burning him up lol. Wow. Better to say nothing about this. I focus on myself turned into bitter hurt in that article lol. Lando your not in a team near the front and if you think you will win a title there - THE ODDS are against it. If Mclaren are not any better by a large degree next year, he would be well to look around. Loyalty is something that sounds nice in a WINNING dynasty not in the mid pack.
Ricciardos perception of his ability doesn’t match his results. Shame. Nice guy but he needs to leave the team to reset himself mentally. I hope he does well wherever he ends up.
Strong statement - I think that Helmut Marko has another and maybe more informed perspective on Norris' performance. It may have changed over the last three months, but most likely not to the level you're claiming https://www.planetf1.com/news/helmut-marko-lando-norris-same-league-max-verstappen/
I think Norris is terribly underrated. He may not have a win yet but I rate him very close to the top drivers.
I agree , he is very good . Needs to mature a little but it will come , future WDC if he lands with the right team , won’t be Mclaren
I don't know what his exit clause is but most likely seat for him would really be Mercedes when Lewis leaves. I struggle to see Mclaren going much further than 3rd best team in the coming few years.
I don’t understand why Mclaren is sort of stuck midfield , when Seidel came along , I figured they would improve drastically and it doesn’t seem to be the case . Zak might be the problem , they don’t get their act straight soon , they could end up further downfield. I think Dennis as disliked as he was ran a much better show
