The latest debacle in the Aussie's McLaren career came in practice at the Monaco GP when he suffered a nasty crash that left his car heavily damaged.
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It has not been smooth sailing for Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren. Although the Aussie won the Italian Grand Prix in 2021, this season has so far been one to forget. Once a bright young prodigy at Red Bull Racing, Ricciardo has never lived up to his potential and 2022 certainly does not seem to be the year that will help. The latest debacle in the Aussie’s McLaren career came in practice at the Monaco GP when he suffered a nasty crash that left his car heavily damaged and the mechanics a lot of work to do. Rumors are already floating that the team might not look to go ahead with the Honey Badger and former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher agrees with that theory.
Ricciardo has a contract with the team until the end of the 2023 season but the way things are going, Ralf Schumacher is of the opinion that this is the Aussie’s last season at McLaren. “Paper is more patient than reality,” he said to Sky Deutscland. “If it stays the way it is not, I don’t see him at McLaren next year. The rumours and the statements from the team are getting louder. He’s just too far away from his teammate.”
On a steamy day in the Principality, Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in the second practise session ahead of the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix, with Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez rounding out the top three. For the first ten minutes of FP2, Daniel Ricciardo was stuck in the garage while McLaren worked on the rear of his vehicle. After losing the back of the car and smashing into the barriers at Swimming Pool, the Australian quickly raised a red flag. With less than 40 minutes to play, the session was resumed.
Read More – Monaco GP 2022: Where to watch, Schedule, Timing, Live Streaming details
Prior to Ricciardo’s departure, Perez set the fastest time of 1m 14.001s, and the Ferraris were the only pair to start on hards, with the others starting on mediums. After the red flag, softs were introduced and the time attack commenced, with the figures plummeting until Leclerc completed the fastest lap of 1m 12.656s, only 0.044s ahead of Ferrari teammate Sainz in P2. Perez of Red Bull was third, 0.379s behind Leclerc, and Verstappen was fourth, 0.447s behind his championship challenger in P4.
Lando Norris had a near-miss at Turn 1 after setting a lap good for P5, 0.638s off the lead, with Mercedes’ George Russell a tenth back in P6 after rubbing his wheels at Turn 5 and complaining of a shortage of power late on. Pierre Gasly, the last driver within a second of P1, finished seventh for AlphaTauri. Fernando Alonso was over three tenths slower than the AlphaTauri in ninth, while Esteban Ocon, his teammate, could only manage P18 in the other Alpine.
