Button: "Switching to McLaren is going to make or break Ricciardo's career"

Jenson Button expects 2021 and 2022 to be very important years for Daniel Ricciardo's career. The former Formula 1 driver expects a lot from the driver from Perth and thinks that the combination Ricciardo-McLaren-Mercedes could be a success. Button also discusses Ricciardo's departure from Red Bull Racing.

"The move to McLaren is going to make or break his career," Button believes in the In The Fast Lane podcast. The single world champion points out that Ricciardo is still young, but that there is a lot at stake in choosing McLaren. "You’ve got to start moving towards a team that can give you race wins and hopefully fight for the Championship. It’s an important move for him."

McLaren with Mercedes dangerous combination

According to Button, Ricciardo didn't make a bad choice by trading Renault for the Woking-based formation. "A McLaren with a Mercedes engine in the back should be very competitive." Together with Lando Norris, the Australian will have to be successful next season.

If Ricciardo had wanted to, he would still be driving for Red Bull Racing with Max Verstappen at his side. "I know he’s being paid a lot of money at Renault, but he would have also been paid a lot at Red Bull so I don’t think it’s a cash issue," says the Brit about Ricciardo's sudden departure from Red Bull. "I think it goes back to not feeling equal with your team-mate and not feeling wanted in the team, and I think that’s the reason why he made that move."

Button impressed by Ricciardo

Although the choice of Renault at the end of 2018 didn't work out very well, Ricciardo did show some nice things in Button's view. "He’s spent a couple of years at Renault…I’m probably more impressed with what he’s done at Renault than with what he did at Red Bull. To have one over on [former teammate] Nico Hulkenberg in his first year [2019] is very impressive.”.