[imagesource: McLaren F1]

To say that Daniel Ricciardo’s time with McLaren has been a disappointment would be a gross understatement.

He replaced Carlos Sainz Jr. last year and roughly 18 months later the writing appears to be on the wall.

The Ozzie remains popular with television pundits, former drivers, and other powerful names within motorsport. Ricciardo has been given a relatively easy ride considering how poorly he has driven, but it surely can’t be long before McLaren CEO Zak Brown pulls the trigger and axes him from the team.

This season, Ricciardo has notched a single top-10 finish in seven races, placing sixth in his home race in Melbourne.

Planet F1 agrees that the writing is on the wall:

…even his greatest allies in the paddock can no longer ignore the evidence of their own eyes.

McLaren tried that tactic too at the beginning, closing their eyes and hoping Daniel’s issues would just go away, that they would ultimately prove to be linked to the specific characteristics of the team’s 2021 car…

But with no discernible improvement seven races into F1’s new era – with Ricciardo claiming just one points finish to [teammagte Lando] Norris’s five, including a podium at Imola – it is now highly doubtful that Daniel is ever coming back.

The Spanish Grand Prix presented a golden opportunity for the Ozzie to shine when he qualified for a spot on the starting grid ahead of Norris. Instead, McLaren instructed Ricciardo to swap positions with Norris just nine laps in, signalling a total lack of confidence in his abilities.

Eddie Jordan on Daniel Ricciardo:

“I think I’d be watching his career path from now on, because I’m not sure how much further he can go.

“Lando is destroying him, mentally, physically and on the track. He needs to shake it up immediately.”

🎙️ @C4F1 #F1 pic.twitter.com/yiBAvQ4cNk

— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) June 1, 2022

After that race, Brown said Ricciardo was “just not comfortable yet with the car” and called it “a disappointing weekend”.

Should the axe come down on his time with McLaren, he could consider taking a break from the sport. Via The Express, he could also be in line to join another team if a spot opens up:

The future of Nicholas Latifi at Williams is currently up in the air as the Canadian continues to struggle, with 14th in Miami his best finish in 2022. Mick Schumacher’s crash in Monaco also compounded his difficulties in his year-and-a-half at Haas, with the German yet to notch an F1 point. For either of those teams, Ricciardo would surely be viewed as an upgrade.

One thing we can gather from a recent Instagram post is that he won’t be quitting any time soon:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo)

The decision may well be taken out of his hands.

All eyes are on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on June 12.

[sources:planetf1&express]