Daniel Ricciardo's future at McLaren seems to be hanging by a thread, even though the Australian himself claims to be sure that he will still be racing for the Woking-based team next season. Ricciardo says he has no interest whatsoever in replacing his old teammate Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin.
McLaren is not satisfied with Ricciardo's performance, but the Perth-based driver is locked in until the end of 2023. There seem to be no real options for Andreas Seidl and Zak Brown to tear up the contract. Meanwhile, last year's Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri is said to have his sights set on Ricciardo's seat.
Ricciardo, however, is not going anywhere. At the press conference on Thursday he said: "Did you hear any of my interviews last week? Obviously, it’s nothing against that [Aston Martin] but as I said last week, my future is clear and it’s here.” So at least one name can already be crossed off the list by Lawrence Stroll.
And what about Albon?
Alexander Albon, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen were asked the same question in the media session. Albon said that his focus is on Williams at the moment, but that a switch cannot be ruled out completely. Ocon and Bottas said they have already signed with Alpine and Alfa Romeo respectively for 2023. The same goes for Kevin Magnussen at Haas F1.