JAKARTA - Formula (F1) driver Daniel Ricciardo has recently been rumored to be leaving McLaren. His position will be replaced by Oscar Piastri.
However, Ricciardo did not want to leave just like that. He asked McLaren to pay 17 million pounds or equivalent to Rp305 billion to terminate his contract.
Ricciardo is still under contract with McLaren until next season. However, McLaren wants to terminate the contract sooner to give place to Oscar Piastri.
This manufacturer intends to pair Piastri as a teammate of Lando Norris for the 2023 season.
McLaren's attitude that intends to throw Ricciardo because he has a strong background. The Australian driver has been seen as disappointing since joining from Renault in 2021.
In addition, McLaren sees Piastri as a future project because it is still 21 years old. He is considered not only a young driver, but also has a myriad of achievements such as winning the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles in a row.
It was this achievement that then made McLaren take an interest and have long been an admirer of Piastri. Moreover, Piastri is also under the care of former F1 driver, Mark Webber.
Webber is quite familiar with the head of the McLaren team, Andreas Seidl. The two have been close since Weber raced for Porsche at the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Ricciardo himself has been asked by McLaren to start negotiations. This is done to find a way out and give him enough time to find another team if Ricciardo still wants to appear in F1.
Last month, Ricciardo was also rumored to be choosing to retire. But he insisted on ending his contract first.
Not wanting the rumors to spread widely, Ricciardo then gave an explanation through his social media. "There's a lot of noise, rumors and people asking questions, coming up with their own answers and it's evolving," Ricciardo said.
"I know my future (became a rumour), so I will tell everyone, the people who follow me and my supporters," he continued.
According to him, it's time to tell the public through his own mouth. "I still want to be at the top all the time. The feeling I get is still real, even through those lows," Ricciardo said.
"Once the emotions and rumors subside, I will reset, because I I still want this (race). I still believe I can do it and the day I retire is the day I lose that feeling and belief. I really feel I am still far from that," he concluded.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
