Both McLaren and Daniel Ricciardo have announced today that they have ‘mutually agreed’ to part ways at the end of the 2022 season. This means that Ricciardo’s contract will be ended a year early, with the Austrailian initially signing a contract with the Woking-based team for 3 years from 2021.

The announcement comes after a challenging 2 years for the 8-time race winner at the team, with Ricciardo find it difficult to adapt his driving to their car philosphy. Whilst he gave McLaren their first win in 9 years in Monza last year, teammate Lando Norris has consistently been ahead of him in terms of pace and points in the championship.

In a video released by Ricciardo today, he stated that both parties made a lot of effort into making the partnership work but the ‘team decided to make a change for next year’. This fuels the rumours that McLaren have made the decision to change their lineup to include fellow countryman and reigning Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri.

Ricciardo has also stated that he is not currently sure of his future within the sport but indicated that he is keen to continue racing in Formula 1. However, despite his time at McLaren, Ricciardo has proven himself to be one of the best drivers on the grid and ESPN reports that 4 teams have been in contact with him over the summer break. And so it seems that 2022 will not be the last we see of the honey badger on the Formula 1 grid.