Daniel Ricciardo has officially announced that he will be joining McLaren for the 2021 season. The 30-year-old Australian will be driving alongside the 20-year-old Brit, Lando Norris.
Ricciardo will be taking the place of Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who will be replacing Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari.
This is not the first time Ricciardo was linked with the Woking based team, he came close to signing with McLaren in the summer of 2018 when he decided to leave Red Bull. However, he decided against such a move and instead chose to join Renault where he has been notably unsettled.
Renault released this statement earlier today, 'Renault DP World F1 Team and Daniel Ricciardo will not continue collaboration beyond 2020. Within the unprecedented context of the 2020 season, discussions held with Daniel Ricciardo concerning a renewal of his contract beyond the end of 2020 have not been successful.'
From this statement it seems as though Renault are far from thrilled at Daniel's departure. However, in this current situation the global market for automobiles has slowed dramatically and with Renault F1 team being a secondary add on to the primary objective of producing and manufacturing road cars, Renault's place in Formula One may well be at risk. Whilst McLaren exist primarily to race.
Therefore, Daniel will now move to one of the most iconic Formula One teams, who have revelled in a change of fortunes last year finishing fourth in the constructors standings, ahead of Renault.
Further successes are expected for the 2021 season, as the papaya coloured team face a change in engine supplier from Renault, to the reigning champions Mercedes, a partnership which in 2008 brought Lewis Hamilton his first Championship.
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal at McLaren F1, commented, 'Daniel is a proven race winner and his experience, commitment and energy will be a valuable addition to McLaren and our mission to return to the front of the field. With Daniel and Lando as teammates, I believe we have two racers who will continue to excite our fans and help the team grow.'
With Daniel now joining McLaren his seat at Renault is now free, whispers from around the paddock are suggesting a return of Fernando Alonso, but is this too far fetched? Will Renault bring back Nico Hulkenberg or will they take the punt and invest in a more youthful future?
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