A twist on the rumours
The season of Daniel Ricciardo it hasn't lived up to expectations so far. You can blame it on bad luck, or a McLaren not performing as well as last year, but the 33-year-old Australian is coming on strong wrought 64 points to 17 by Comrade Norris (also finished on the podium in Imola).
They had been going around for months items on a possible landing place for his compatriot Piastres, now the third Alpine driver, and in general Ricciardo's seat seemed increasingly at risk for 2023. The words of McLaren team principal Zak Brown also contributed to fueling this belief: "Daniel is having a season below the level of our expectations".
The same Brown However, he recently denied all of them rumors, going to confirm yours line-up also for next season: “We will do everything to get him back into shape. We will try to do everything for him, we will work hard because we know he can win. Can he do it? It depends on the car we give him, but what we ask him it's clear: that he is at Lando's level, or slightly forward or backward".
Regarding the words that had sparked the fantasy market, Brown adds: “What I said did not cause no internal problems to the team, despite having sparked many rumors outside. But we have a great report with Daniel. We exchange Whatsapp messages all the time".
Is the future in IndyCar?
However, the Woking team seems intent on finding one future alternative to the driver from Perth, given that at 33 years of age his time in Formula 1 is drawing to a close. Some candidates could be found overseas: this is the case of the young talents Colton Herta and Patricio O'Ward, currently militants in Indycar.
Both, among other things, have already had a taste of the top racing series. The 23-year-old Mexican drove the MCL35M on the circuit Yas Marina last December, while the 22-year-old Californian is testing today the same car a Portimao. The test days were scheduled months in advance and have little to do with the current driver market, but both young drivers are among Brown's favorites to grab the second seat in 2024.
Internal transfers at the Circus
We are also looking at an internal transfer to the world of Formula 1. In addition to the aforementioned Piastres, also Alexander Albon and Sebastian Hag. The young Australian was kindly offered by Alpine as reserve at the start of the season, should Norris or Ricciardo be unable to participate in a Grand Prix.
The Thai from Williams was linked to the Grove team until end of 2023 and could move to McLaren the following season. However, the connection with Red Bull he is still strong and it will be easier to see him next to Verstappen or in Alpha Tauri rather than as Norris' partner.
As for Hag, age (35 years) certainly doesn't help but the talent is still there and McLaren could offer him a better chance to fight for top positions than Aston Martin. The four-time world champion however made it known that, although he does not yet have a contract for next year, his priority Is that of renew with Lawrence Stroll's team.
SOURCE: F1Ingenerale, Autosprint
