Daniel Ricciardo left the McLaren team a year before the end of his contract. The Australian failed to live up to Zak Brown’s expectations after his move from Renault.
Ricciardo, who replaced Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard joined Ferrari, memorably won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. But while that victory ended McLaren’s nine-year drought, Lando Norris comfortably beat him for the most part.
McLaren paid Ricciardo at the end of the 2022 season, costing him his place on the grid. After a legal battle with Alpine, the Woking outfit recruited another Australian in Oscar Piastri.
| CATEGORY | VOL. |
| Races | 44 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Points | 152 |
Ricciardo was given a second chance in Formula 1 when he replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri midway through 2023. But he didn’t perform well enough to merit a return to Red Bull, and it was ultimately decided that he was blocking the path of younger drivers.
Zak Brown decided enough was enough for Daniel Ricciardo after 2022 Monaco Grand Prix
Ricciardo entered the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix weekend 11th in the championship, four places below Norris. The Englishman had scored nearly four times as many points (39 vs 11), so the pressure was already on.
And on the most unforgiving circuit on the calendar, Ricciardo found the barriers in FP2 through the swimming pool section. As is often the case at Monaco, he carried that error through the weekend.
Ricciardo was eliminated in Q2 after setting the 14th fastest time. Norris was seven-tenths quicker in the corresponding session and went on to qualify fifth.
At a loss to explain the pace deficit in the dry, Ricciardo hoped the rain on Sunday would create the chaos he needed to score points. But he only gained one position and crossed the line 45 seconds behind Norris.
According to ESPN, Zak Brown’s mind was made up after his ‘dismal’ showing. Brown was already starting to regret the signing and this was the moment he realised Ricciardo ‘had to go’.
During the summer break a couple of months later, Brown held talks with Ricciardo’s camp ‘behind the scenes’ and they reached an agreement to part ways at the end of the year.
Daniel Ricciardo’s surprising reaction after 2018 crash with Max Verstappen
Ricciardo may regret his shock decision to leave Red Bull back in 2018. He willingly forfeited a front-running seat and took the risk of joining the unproven Renault.
The ‘Honey Badger’ won seven Grands Prix for Christian Horner’s squad, but only took one victory in the six years after he left – the aforementioned Monza triumph.
Ricciardo may have felt that Max Verstappen was becoming the number one driver at Milton Keynes, which meant he wouldn’t be able to win a world championship for the team.
The two drivers appeared to get on well, though they did spectacularly collide at the 2018 Azerbaijan GP, shortly before Ricciardo announced his exit.
Ricciardo was ‘thankful’ to Red Bull, despite the outcome, because they allowed the two drivers to race. He remains the only teammate to outscore Verstappen over a full season, having done so in 2018.