Interceptor Daniel Ricciardo McLaren released a reassuring catch-up with the boss and announced “we want to do it together”.
Speculation of an early departure from the Surrey-based team intensified when McLaren chief executive Jack Brown said in June that Ricciardo had not lived up to his expectations, while revealing “process” in his contract meant the Australian could be released soon.
The 32-year-old Renault – now Alpine – moved to McLaren before the 2021 World Championships and by the end of 2023 he had signed a contract with the papaya color team, but his struggle put him in serious danger of pushing him to the end of his contract.
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“Yeah, so, first we talked, we made a catch-up,” Ricardo told reporters at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“The clarity for us to move forward is clear, my contract with the team is clear by the end of next year, I am fully committed.
“My team has full support and we want to do it together.”
Ricciardo was eighth in the 2021 standings and has dropped even further this season, with Western Australia finishing 11th in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
As Ricciardo stumbled, teammate Lando Norris improved.
The 22-year-old Englishman finished sixth in the standings in 2021 and is seventh after seven rounds this season.
Ricciardo spoke openly about the difficulty McLaren tried to adapt to cars: the MCL35 in 2021 and the MCL36 this year.
He faced another challenge in his adjustment phase when launching his revolutionary ground-effect vehicles for Formula 1 2022.
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He said he did not stress Brown’s comments.
“I think I’m getting it back. I still know what I can do. I still believe I have it,” Ricardo said.
“It’s not a place of low self-esteem or low self-esteem.
“I think everything in this game works at such a high level and if something is out of tune it could have a carry-on effect.
“So it’s really up to me to get back to where I’m in tune with the car and then it will come.”
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