Ricciardo told to ‘come clean’ as F1 boss offers star olive branch

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Daniel Ricciardo has seemingly been offered an olive branch by Haas boss Gunther Steiner as he fights for this F1 career. After an underwhelming two seasons at McLaren, ‘The Honey Badger’ is being released from his contract early at the end of the 2022 campaign, and is expected to take a break in 2023.

He will be replaced by compatriot Oscar Piastri, following the explosive saga at Alpine where the youngster took to Twitter to dismiss the claim of the team he would instead be representing them in place of the outgoing Fernando Alonso. But Alpine then moved for Esteban Ocon, as opposed to Ricciardo.

The 33-year-old signed for the British team amid much optimism at the start of 2021, forming an exciting partnership with Lando Norris. However, despite leading his teammate home in a famous one-two in Monza last year, the former Red Bull man has been largely out-performed by his more experienced partner.

A costly crash in Monaco this year did little to endear Ricciardo to Zak Brown and co, but he hasn’t been the only driver under pressure of late, with Mick Schumacher also sweating on his place at Haas. Despite winning his first F1 points at Silverstone, the German has failed to impress again alongside Kevin Magnusson.

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And Steiner has now dropped a major hint that Ricciardo could be the man to replace Schumacher, but put the onus on the Australian to make the first move: “If he’s interested in us, he’s not shy to call me up. I am not going to chase him down.”

And the Italian-born boss has said it’s up to Ricciardo to forge his own path for 2023: “I want him to decide what he wants to do for himself, first, before being talked into something,” Steiner said, via motorsportweek.com. “I think he’s a good driver and I don’t know how he got in the situation he’s in now, but I think he needs to come clean with himself and decide what he’s going to do.”

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“For us he would be a big hit. He was a race winner and now he is without a job. He was a race winner just last year. I rate him as a driver, I have no idea why he doesn’t perform right now. That is for him to figure out.”

Ricciardo has also been heavily linked with a role at Mercedes, with speculation over Lewis Hamilton’s long-term future. Toto Wolff is reportedly lining him up as a reserve driver initially, with a view to a permanent role in 2024.

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