This Friday the soap opera of the Piastri case ended , when the Drivers’ Contract Recognition Board agreed with McLaren and the team announced the signing of the young driver that Alpine will lose.
It was something expected after Monday’s meeting, but in the FIA’s explanation a new fact emerged: that McLaren had signed Oscar Piastri on July 4.
That date is much earlier than previously thought, and there is talk of a lot of room for advance regarding Vettel’s withdrawal announcement that caused Alonso’s signing for Aston Martin, Piastri’s failed ascent in Alpine and of course it was long before that McLaren and Ricciardo agreed to their breakup.
Everyone thought of Ricciardo, since it meant that McLaren was signing his replacement without even informing him that he would be leaving the team. In fact, after the 4th of July, there are many cases in which the pilot showed his confidence to continue.
“There have been a lot of rumors about my future in F1, but I want you to hear it from me. I am committed to McLaren until the end of next year and I am not leaving the series,” Ricciardo said the following week. Then, before the French GP from July 22 to 24 , he insisted: “I have a commitment from the team. There are many people in the factory and I wanted to make it clear to them that I am with them, in case there were headlines like ‘What future does Daniel have? Will it go to another team?’ They’re trying to develop the perfect car for me, so I want to go up to them and say, ‘Guys, I’m with you.’
Ricciardo was one of the most sought after as soon as Piastri’s signing data was known, and although at that time he was contesting FP2 of the Dutch GP, after getting out of the car they asked him if he knew the date of McLaren’s agreement with his replacement .
“No, to be honest, date-wise, it’s the first time I’ve heard of it,” he admitted. “I am not aware of the deadlines and this and that, what the team is discussing. To be honest let’s say that already before that date, more than a month ago, we were already discussing my… no, not my future, but of course what we could improve on to try to have a better future with the team”.
Ricciardo does not hide that he knew that McLaren would study options, and although he hid feeling hurt, he insisted that the negotiations took place behind his back. “I’m aware that there was going to be talks going on. So in terms of timelines, yeah, I guess what the team did, say, set up Oscar’s arrival, that’s also none of my business as to what day they talked about. and this or that”.
“If it was, then so be it. It really wasn’t my decision.”
