After months of citing valid contracts for 2023, it’s become clear that McLaren does want to find a way to get Daniel Ricciardo out of its Formula 1 line-up and slot in Oscar Piastri instead.
And that’s what triggered the incredible driver market drama of last week, when Alpine hinted it might lose its long-time protege Piastri, then announced a 2023 deal with him anyway only for Piastri to publicly declare that wasn’t happening – all in the space of six and a half bizarre hours.
How have things reached this point between Ricciardo and McLaren, how is the team going to move him aside given he holds the contractual power and has indicated he wants to stay, and where does he go next?
Here’s a video recap of the state of play in this saga:
