Daniel Ricciardo remains under pressure at McLaren, and Sebastian Vettel's retirement opens up a vacancy at Aston Martin. But the Australian says he does not intend to change his home in Formula One
Daniel Ricciardo is still under pressure due to poor results at McLaren, and his future at the Woking team is often questioned. Sebastian Vettel's announcement on Thursday (28) that he will retire from Formula One at the end of the 2022 season opens up an opening at Aston Martin. After reaffirming last week that he has "unfinished business," Ricciardo stressed that he is not thinking of changing teams and wants to fulfill the contract he has until the end of next year.
"Nothing against [Aston Martin], but as I said last week, my future is clear, and it's here [at McLaren]," Daniel told press outlets ahead of the Hungarian GP.
A possible threat to Ricciardo at McLaren is Spanish driver Álex Palou, who was recently hired by the British team. On Thursday, a lawyer of the driver released a statement criticizing Ganassi for preventing an opportunity in Formula 1.
Some other drivers on the grid were also asked about the possibility of filling the gap left by Vettel at Aston Martin. Alexander Albon did not deny his interest, but said he prefers to stay focused on his work with Williams. "Obviously, Aston Martin is a great team. They are clearly expanding as a team as well, but the focus now has to be on this year," said the Thai.
Esteban Ocon was also asked about the vacancy in Lawrence Stroll's team, and recalled his Force India days. "I've been there! If you look at my twitter account from 2018 to here, you will see that I was racing in the team back then. I'm fine at Alpine at the moment, but I know the team very well and I know what they are capable of," said the Frenchman.
Finally, Finn Valtteri Bottas joked about his situation, recalling the times when his future at Mercedes was often questioned: "I never imagined I could say this, but I have a contract! So I'm fine," said the Alfa Romeo driver.
Formula 1 returns this Sunday (31), for the HungarianGrand Prix, with complete coverage byGRANDE PRÊMIO. The 13th round of the World Championship will be the last before the traditional European summer break.