The latest series of rumours in Formula 1’s game of musical chairs includes a detail that is very concerning for Daniel Ricciardo.
That is, that he doesn’t feature in any of them.
His future on the grid remains up in the air after it was officially announced he is departing McLaren at season’s end.
Ricciardo had been linked with a return to Alpine – formerly Renault – but with rumours swirling around the team’s interest in another driver, it could get very bleak very quick for the 33-year-old.
At the centre of all the movement is Aussie rising star Oscar Piastri, whose future is set to be decided in coming days with his contract dispute finally set to be resolved.
Piastri caused a major stir when he bluntly shunned Alpine and signed a contract with McLaren for 2023 despite having a valid contract with Alpine.
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The likelihood of Piastri lining up on the grid in 2023 behind the wheel of the Alpine looks slim with the French outfit reportedly circling Pierre Gasly as their number one target to replace the outgoing Alonso.
That is a potential hammer blow with the team appearing to be the best option left for Ricciardo to take up. He has previously said he would be interested in returning to Alpine “under the right circumstances.
The latest series of rumours only further cloud his future with revelations:
— Red Bull godfather Helmut Marko saying the team won’t stand in Gasly’s way if he chooses to move to Alpine. Sky Sports Craig Slater reports AlphaTauri are willing to let Gasly go in return for a transfer fee.
— Mick Schumacher’s agreement with Ferrari and its partnership with Haas is ending at the end of 2022, making him a free agent without a home for 2023. Motorsport.com reports Schumacher could miss out on a seat next year, despite Alpine’s Esteban Ocon publicly saying he would like to partner with Schumacher next year after Fernando Alonso’s shock move to Aston Martin and Piastri’s expected move to McLaren. That Schumacher link is another dent to Ricciardo’s Alpine hopes.
— Valtteri Bottas voicing public support for Zhou Guanyu to keep his seat at Alfa Romeo.
— With Schumacher moving on, it is reported that Antonio Giovinazzi is the favourite to take the second Haas seat alongside Kevin Magnussen.
In a doomsday scenario, Ricciardo could miss out on all of them and face the prospect of sitting out a season or signing with Williams which is holding off on deciding on its second driver for 2023 to see how the rest of the dominoes fall.
Haas team principle Guenther Steiner, who has become a cult hero for his antics on Netflix documentary series Drive to Survive, reportedly contacted Ricciardo before the mid-season break.
Denmark’s Magnussen is contracted with Haas on a multi-year deal.
The first domino to fall is expected to be Piastri with the contract recognition board (CRB) having met on Monday to make a decision on the dispute between Alpine and McLaren.
Alpine were left shell-shocked when two-time world champion Fernando Alonso blindsided them by announcing he would be joining Aston Martin in 2023.
The move saw the French outfit announce Piastri, their current reserve driver, as filling the vacated seat.
But Piastri rejected that notion as he looked to move into a seat at McLaren alongside Lando Norri.
As the ongoing drama unfolded, Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer blasted Piastri’s conduct and said the team would go to the high court if they had to.
