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Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren team principal Zak Brown have had a strong relationship in the last 18 months. Despite being unable to perform at the level he's known for, the Australian has often had the backing of the team. It has also worked hard with the driver to find a solution to his troubles.
The resolve and patience that the team has, however, are apparently starting to break. Sadly for Ricciardo, Brown opted to use the route of media prosecution to convey his message in what was a rather strange approach.
In an interview with SkyF1, Zak Brown let it rip as he confessed that Daniel Ricciardo had not met the expectations of the team or himself, except for in a couple of races here and there. He also conveyed that even though Ricciardo has a contract for next season, there are mechanisms in place that could be brought into play if the team and the driver wanted to end the relationship.
This outburst from Brown could not have come at the worst time, something that even 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button alluded to as well.
Daniel Ricciardo seemed visibly affected in a 22-race season!
While neither Daniel Ricciardo nor McLaren would want to admit it, the driver looked visibly affected by what was said in the media. When asked about it before the Monaco GP, Ricciardo took the topic head-on instead of deflecting it and admitted that his performances had not been up to the mark.
After the press conference, Ricciardo looked unsettled in his demeanor throughout the Monaco weekend. In what was an uncharacteristic crash for the Australian, he binned the car into the wall and consequently had to miss the session.
After a disastrous qualifying session and race, Ricciardo was not his usual confident self while facing the media. He admitted that he wasn't too happy with how the weekend had panned out despite having a smile on his face.
Whether Ricciardo would have felt this way without Brown's comments is another matter. The question that needs to be asked here, however, is why would Brown have such an outburst just six races into the season, especially when his feelings could have been communicated personally to the driver.
Media outbursts have never resulted in positive reinforcement. With 15 races left in the season, it doesn't make sense to unnecessarily take shots at your driver. Zak Brown has unnecessarily poked the bear in Daniel Ricciardo, who will not take kindly to these comments despite what he says in the media.
McLaren does not have a replacement available
An important question that McLaren needs to answer is whether it has a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo. Many names are doing the rounds, but who could the possible candidates be and will they act as a suitable replacement?
Pato O'Ward could be a good choice. The Mexican was the IndyCar runner-up last season and is currently second in the standings. We have to take into account, however, that he is second to Marcus Ericsson, a driver that F1 got rid of a few years ago. Colton Herta too faces a similar issue where he is unproven just like O'Ward and would be a gamble.
We also have talents like Oscar Piastri, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, and Pierre Gasly that could be on the shortlist for McLaren. Piastri might not be allowed to leave Alpine, while Alonso may not get a third shot at McLaren after how disastrous the first two were. Vettel could be a possibility, but his motivation for F1 after his pivot towards global issues is a question mark. Gasly is locked in for another year and unless there is a driver eager to graduate, AlphaTauri will not let him go.
Should McLaren decide to discontinue its relationship with Ricciardo, it will find itself evaluating the options available on the current grid. When a team could be in such a fix, not calling out one of your drivers might be the better thing to do.
A portion of the blame falls on McLaren as well
While Daniel Ricciardo is to blame for his inability to adapt to the car, the team shoulders some blame as well.
Ricciardo's issues are starting to be eerily similar to those of last season. Telemetry shows the driver losing chunks of time in the slow-speed corners, leaving him on the backfoot at tracks where the layout is heavily dependent on traction and car control in those sections.
That is why Ricciardo suffered in Monaco as compared to his teammate, as in last season, thereby revealing that his issues persist.
The car is just not to the Australian's liking. Although it suits Lando Norris, a driver who has only driven for McLaren in his career, it does not suit the Australian and hence he seems to be struggling.
If you want your driver to perform at the best of his ability, give him the tools to do so. McLaren hasn't done that this season, so even Daniel Ricciardo's replacement could face the same issues! The car's characteristics are a question mark at the moment and need work.
Daniel Ricciardo is his worst critic!
You attack a driver who's not aware of how badly he's performing or does not want to listen to the team and work on his deficiencies. You, however, don't attack a driver who is admittedly his biggest critic. Even before Zak Brown aimed at Daniel Ricciardo's performances, the Australian has been very vocal in trying to find a solution to his problems with the car.
At no point has the Australian thrown the team under the bus or tried to apportion the blame on them. Daniel Ricciardo's approach has been to focus on improvements instead of ranting in front of the media about how bad the car is. Taking shots at that driver? That too just before the 7th race of a 22-race season? It's hard to understand the logic behind doing something like that.
After that outburst, McLaren has a disgruntled driver with 15 more races to go through this season and whose replacement is still not certain. Zak Brown has made some inspiring decisions in the last few years for McLaren. This wasn't one of them.
