There has been a bizarre rumour abound in the Formula 1 paddock which could see McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo lose his F1 race seat in an unexpected driver swap.
The “Silly Season” in Formula 1 traditionally begins in the summer, but already this year the rumour mill is churning away after just a few races. For some current Formula 1 drivers, their contract situation is set to change in a year’s time, one of which is AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly.
The Frenchman is still under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2023 and, unless he is promoted back to the A-team next year, will leave the racing team after the coming season at the latest. Both Gasly and Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko have already hinted at this during the off season this year.
However, another option could open up for the Frenchman, namely after the 2022 season: a switch to McLaren. The Daily Star, among others, writes that there is already talk of this in the paddock.
In this case, Daniel Ricciardo would have to make way for Gasly. Since Lando Norris only extended his contract this year, the British driver has a secure place with the team from Woking. Ricciardo’s contract, on the other hand, also expires in 2023. Theoretically, therefore, he would be on the market at the same time as Pierre Gasly.
But since McLaren is said to be pretty dissatisfied with the Australian’s performance, a Ricciardo-Gasly swap could even be on the cards after the current season, according to reports.
McLaren would not only get a driver who is six years younger, but also a driver who is significantly cheaper. According to reports, Ricciardo earns around 15 million euros per season, whereas Gasly only commands five million euros.
The deal could be facilitated by Ricciardo’s still good relations with Red Bull. The 32-year-old began his Formula 1 career eleven years ago with the Red Bull and still enjoys a good rapport there.
However, the Australian is only a limited fit for the Austrians. Red Bull traditionally uses the B team to give young drivers a chance. And Daniel Ricciardo has not fallen into this category for some years now.
Gasly leaving TR next year is a certainty, RB was quite clear when they got Perez that there was (still is?) an issue with promoting Gasly to RB.
A swap this year would be a surprise, but that can happen if McLaren is that fed up with Ricciardo and vice versa. Ricciardo will only stay this season at TR, Perez is also without a contract next year, so RB will evaluate both and take one of the two for the RB seat. And put a youngster in TR.
Reported in The Daily Star…. that bastion of credibility and high quality journalism
I’d be just as likely to believe a scoop from The “Judge”
Doubtful. Even if Mclaren terminated Ricciardo’s contract prematurely, he wouldn’t move to AT as that team is for drivers with certain status only.
If a driver movement happens in the B-team, it’d be for an RB program driver in F2, e.g., Vips, Lawson, Daruvala.
He’d merely end up without a drive for next season unless, for example, Williams wanted to replace Latifi with him.
Gracias 🙂
True or not true, it is remarkable how Ricciardo underperforms. For the second year in a row…
F1 is not a sport known for the amount of leeway drivers get.
Yeah, totally gonna trust a “journalist” that can’t even spell “lose” correctly, lol.
“loose his seat” lol, this site is full of spelling and grammatical errors. C’mon, guys. You purport yourselves to be “journalists.”