Has Daniel Ricciardo revealed his heartache over McLaren F1 exit?

On Wednesday afternoon, McLaren confirmed that Ricciardo will be leaving the team at the end of the year after both parties reached an agreement.

It comes as no surprise after Oscar Piastri denied Alpine’s claim that he’s joining the team for 2023, hinting a switch to McLaren instead.

Despite taking McLaren’s first win in nine years at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, Ricciardo hasn’t lived up to expectations, struggling to get close to younger teammate Lando Norris.

Speaking in a video posted on his social media accounts, Ricciardo was visibly emotional.

Ricciardo said: “Hey everyone, I wanted to share some news. 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.

“Yes, just obviously we put in a lot of effort on both sides but it 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 this is 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. So that’s that.

“I think for the future, what lies ahead, I’m not sure yet, not sure yet. But we’ll see. 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. 

“You know, from a results point of view, for sure, to consistently get the results and the form I was after, it wasn’t always there, and it 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, you know, I think about standing on the top step, I think about bringing the team their first win since 2012, you know, like that sort of stuff was awesome. To see the smiles from everyone’s faces, to be in that moment, that’s something I’ll never forget, so yes, there’s a lot of good stuff to take from this as well.”

Ricciardo made it clear that he wants to remain in F1 and he still has the belief that he can compete with the very best.

“The sport, 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. So yes, all that stuff is still there. But yes, I just wanted to say I appreciate everyone’s support from the highs, to the lows – everything in between. This isn’t it for me. We’ll see what lies ahead. I just wanted to say I appreciate you and [cuts off…]”