McLaren Racing has confirmed Daniel Ricciardo in a multi-year deal from 2021 F1 season onward as a replacement for Carlos Sainz.
In what is a busy time to come with announcements from various quarters, the first one is regarding Ricciardo moving to McLaren as a replacement of Sainz – who is Ferrari bound – in a multi-year deal, starting from the 2021 F1 season onward.
This is the second jump from Ricciardo after he left Red Bull Racing to join Renault in 2019. Considering the lack of results and probably the project looking risky, the Australian has moved on quickly to McLaren, who looks on-course for a revival in the coming years.
McLaren will have Mercedes engines as well from 2021 onward, which makes it a lucrative option. Ricciardo also gets to partner Lando Norris, with whom he is good friends with, while also push through for podiums and wins in the near future.
The move was looking increasingly possible, thanks to the decision from Sebastian Vettel to leave Ferrari, which helped Sainz to switch and open a space. This leaves a void at Renault, where names like Fernando Alonso and Guanyu Zhou have popped up so far.
“Signing Daniel Ricciardo is another step forward in our long-term plan and will bring an exciting new dimension to the team, alongside Lando,” said Zak Brown. “This is good news for our team, partners and of course our fans.”
“I also want to pay tribute to Carlos for the excellent job he has been doing for McLaren in helping our performance recovery plan. He is a real team player and we wish him well for his future beyond McLaren.”
“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,” said Andreas Seidl. “With Daniel and Lando as teammates, I believe we have two racers who will continue to excite our fans and help the team grow.
“Carlos is a true professional, a pleasure to work with and we will continue to enjoy going racing with him this year. We all wish him good luck for the next stage in his career when he leaves McLaren.”
Here’s Carlos Sainz Sr on the potential switch
Here’s news on potential switch from Carlos Sainz and other F1 names
Here’s Cyril Abiteboul on wanting to retain Daniel Ricciardo