The F1 driver who chases away the rumors of the end of the cycle: “I’m not leaving”

He is one of the figures of Formula 1 and perhaps the most charismatic driver. Daniel Ricciardo fought for the title when he was at Red Bull but his career didn’t improve when he left and, at 33, rumors knocked him out of the league in 2023. Especially since he couldn’t find the pace this season. of McLaren, he is 12th with 17 points and his teammate, Lando Norris, appears 7th with 64.

However, ten days before the next race, the Australian confirmed that he is “committed” to McLaren for 2023, which is “to work hard” to improve his performance and insisted he “will not stray from the sport,” the F1 website reported Wednesday.

Speculations are not new. Ricciardo had struggled last year since he joined McLaren, despite having won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. “Apart from Monza and some races, he generally did not meet his expectations or ours, as far as we expected.”McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown was encouraged to report on Sky Sports’ Any Driven Monday show last May.

However, recently and as the farewell rumors got bigger, he made it clear that the relationship between him and Ricciardo “never been better” adding that McLaren had a responsibility to try to give Ricciardo and Norris a car that would allow them to fight at the top of the grid.

Now Ricciardo has turned to social networks to ban those comments that have put him without a place on the F1 grid from next season. “There have been a lot of (rumors) about my future in Formula 1but I want you to know for me, “he said on Twitter, a few days after finishing ninth at the Austrian Grand Prix.

“I am busy with McLaren until the end of next year and I will not stray from the sport.. I appreciate that it hasn’t always been easy, but who wants it to be easy! I’m working hard with the team to make improvements and get the car right and back to where it belongs. I want it even more than ever. See you in Le Castellet. Daniele “, she added.

His statements also came after McLaren took a two-day test with the IndyCar star. Colton Hertha, as part of his Testing of Previous Car’s (TPC) program, while driving his 2021-spec McLaren MCL35 at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal, Portimao, with a few spectators. The press was quick to pinpoint the American driver as a potential McLaren F1 member in the future. Even if it looks like he won’t be, at least in the foreseeable future.