Australian Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has denied all the rumours that have been circulating in recent weeks about his future in Formula One, with the McLaren driver insisting that he is under contract with the team until the end of the 2023 season and has no intention of leaving the sport.

Daniel Ricciardo’s disappointing results with McLaren and his performance deficit to team-mate Lando Norris sparked a wave of speculation earlier this year about his future with the Woking team. Comments in the press by his boss Zak Brown, who said Ricciardo had not lived up to expectations since the start of his tenure, only served to amplify the rumours about Daniel Ricciardo’s future with the British team. However, last week Zak Brown decided to clarify his comments and McLaren’s position on Ricciardo’s status for 2023, insisting that Ricciardo, contrary to information known in the paddock, will 100% race in F1 with the team next season, for now.

It appears that Daniel Ricciardo also wanted to respond to all these rumours that his time at Mclaren is very much numbered, by posting a short message on his social networks in which the Australian specifies that he intends to honour his contract with McLaren until its end:

“There have been a lot of rumours about my future in Formula 1, but I want you to hear my side of it. I am committed to McLaren until the end of next year and I have no plans to leave the sport,” Ricciardo wrote on his social media channels.

“I recognise that it hasn’t always been easy, but who wants it to be easy! I am working hard with the team to make improvements and get the car where it needs to be. I want it more than ever. See you at Le Castellet! Daniel.”

This scenario might well be the case at present, but the Australian has failed to deliver at Mclaren despite a hefty salary, far eclipsing his team mate Lando Norris. Team boss Zak Brown has already admitted publicly that there are mechanism’s in place for Ricciardo to leave the team early following the statement in an interview during the Spanish Grand Prix that “Apart from Monza 2021 and a few other races, it’s [Ricciardo] not up to his or our expectations,”

In the 2022 World Drivers’ Championship, Daniel Ricciardo is in twelfth place with 17 points scored so far this season, 47 points behind his teammate Lando Norris.