Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren are set to split at the end of the Formula One season. This comes after a buyout was negotiated with the Australian in the final year of his contract.
Ricciardo is one of the most popular drivers in F1. He has eight career victories so far and is in his 12th season.
Ricciardo held the option on 2023 for his seat at McLaren but his performance has been underwhelming through 35 races.
Although he did score McLaren's first Formula One victory since 2012 with a win last September at Monza, Ricciardo has been outperformed by teammate Lando Norris nearly every race weekend.
The 33-year-old Ricciardo has just one podium with McLaren and only 19 points this season.
“It's been a privilege to be a part of the McLaren Racing family for the last two seasons," Ricciardo said in a statement on Wednesday, adding he'd been in talks about his future with McLaren for “several months" before reaching a mutual agreement to end the deal a year early.
“I'll be announcing my own future plans in due course but regardless of what this next chapter brings, I have no regrets and am proud of the effort and work I gave McLaren, especially the win in Monza, last season,” Ricciardo added. "I've never been more motivated to compete and be a part of a sport that I love so much and look forward to what comes next.”
McLaren head Zak Brown in May acknowledged that Ricciardo's seat was shaky and said there were “mechanisms” in which the driver and team could split ahead of the 2023 season. The mechanism turned out to be a buyout since Ricciardo held the option for next season.
Although initial reports suggested Ricciardo was seeking more than $20 million to exit the team early. According to reports McLaren paid $15 million to end the contract.
(Inputs from PTI)
