Official: @McLarenF1 announce the signing of @danielricciardo for 2021. #F1
Daniel Ricciardo signs for McLaren in 2021 on a "multi-year deal" leaving Renault. Image credit to FormulaRapida.net.
The F1 driver market this week keeps spinning as McLaren Racing announced the signing of Daniel Ricciardo for the 2021 on a multi-year deal.
Ricciardo will join Lando Norris who will start his third season with the Woking-based outfit. The team also announced today that Carlos Sainz would be leaving to join Ferrari as the Spaniard has been officially confirmed by the Maranello squad.
Ricciardo is currently halfway through a two-year deal with Renault after he left Red Bull Racing at the end of 2018 to join the French manufacturer, but now decided that McLaren is the better option for the future especially as the Woking-squad will have the return of Mercedes power in 2021.
McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown has over-seen a major restructure since taking over from former chief Ron Dennis, recruiting Andreas Seidl as Team Principal, James Key as Technical Director as they launched their way back towards the front of the field. Landing Ricciardo was always on the mind of Brown.
“Signing Daniel is another step forward in our long-term plan and will bring an exciting new dimension to the team, alongside Lando,” explained Brown. “This is good news for our team, partners and of course our fans.”
“I also want to pay tribute to Carlos for the excellent job he has been doing for McLaren in helping our performance recovery plan. He is a real team player and we wish him well for his future beyond McLaren.” Brown concluded. Credit to McLaren for the quote. https://www.mclaren.com/racing/team/daniel-ricciardo-drive-mclaren-2021/
Seidl also added:
“Daniel is a proven race-winner and his experience, commitment and energy will be a valuable addition to McLaren and our mission to return to the front of the field. With Daniel and Lando as teammates, I believe we have two racers who will continue to excite our fans and help the team grow.”
“Carlos is a true professional, a pleasure to work with and we will continue to enjoy going racing with him this year. We all wish him good luck for the next stage in his career when he leaves McLaren.” Seidl concluded. Credit to McLaren for the quote.
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