A sombre Daniel Ricciardo has declared that his exit from McLaren does not necessarily mark the end of his Formula 1 career.
Ricciardo has taken to social media to offer his thoughts following confirmation he’ll leave the McLaren Formula 1 team at the end of the season.
The team issued a statement on Wednesday announcing it had “mutually agreed” with the Australian to terminate their relationship a year early.
That media release included comments from Ricciardo though offered little insight into his mindset.
Shortly after that was published, Ricciardo took to social media with a video offering his take on the situation.
“Hey, everyone, I wanted to share some news,” he began.
“It’s not great. It’s bittersweet for sure. But I think it’s best you hear it from me; 2022 will be my last year with McLaren.
“Obviously, we put in a lot of effort on both sides, but just hasn’t worked the way we wanted, so the team’s decided to make a change for next year.
“We had a lot of discussions, but in the end, we mutually agreed that it was the right thing for both of us.
“I will continue to do the rest of this year, absolutely, and I’ll continue to give it my all.”
McLaren has not named a replacement driver though it is expected Oscar Piastri will partner Lando Norris from next season.
Ricciardo meanwhile is facing an uncertain future.
It is believed he has not yet secured another drive on a grid that has comparatively few opportunities.
Of those, Alpine is the most competitive though his previous tenure there may preclude him from serious consideration.
The other option is Haas, though that seems unlikely given its links with Ferrari.
“For the future, what lies ahead? I’m not sure yet. Not sure yet, but we’ll see,” Ricciardo said.
“You know, I look back on this time with McLaren, I look back with a smile.
“I learned a lot about myself, I think things that will help me for the next step in my career, but I think just in general in life.
“I think too, you know, from a results point of view, to consistently get the results in that form that I was after, wasn’t always there and made some weekends tough.
“I felt those, absolutely, but I also have many happy memories of my time at the team.
“And I think about Monza,” he added.
“I think about standing on the top step; I think about bringing the team their first win since 2012.
“That sort of stuff was awesome, and to see the smile on everyone’s faces, to just be in that moment, that’s something I’ll never forget.
“So, yeah, there’s a lot of good stuff to take from this as well.
“The sport, you know, I still love it. I still love it.
“This hasn’t affected any of that. I still have that fire in me, that belief in my belly, that I can do this at the highest level. All that stuff’s still there.
“But yeah, just want to say appreciate everyone’s support through the highs, lows, everything in between.
“This isn’t it for me, but we’ll see. We’ll see what lies ahead.”
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) August 24, 2022
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