McLaren chief executive Zak Brown conceded it remains a “great mystery” as to why Daniel Ricciardo never found consistency during his two-year stint with the team.
Ricciardo ended McLaren’s nine-year drought for a Grand Prix victory when he won at Monza in 2021, but had little else to crow about as he failed to land another podium finish from 44 races.
It was a disappointing return for the Australian who arrived at McLaren on high wages, with the team ultimately deciding to terminate his deal a year in advance and bring in fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri.
With both parties having now moved on, Brown still cannot put his finger on a reason for Ricciardo’s struggles.
“We’ve certainly analysed it,” Brown told Speedcafe.
“We gave it everything we’ve got, Daniel gave it everything he’s got and our relationship with Daniel was great.
“It was clearly disappointing for both of us as to the outcome but I think it’s a bit of a great mystery as to why.
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“I don’t think Daniel knows, we don’t know, we tried everything. Maybe we worked too hard.
“I think, ultimately, that’s why we both decided to make a change because we had tried everything and we really don’t know why it wasn’t clicking.
“So hopefully, a change of environment for him, he’ll get his magic back because for sure he’s a magical guy. You saw in Mona what he’s capable of and he’s done that seven other times.
“But we needed to make a change because we couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong.”
After his departure from McLaren, Ricciardo revealed he would be heading to Red Bull as their third driver behind two-time champ Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez for the 2023 season.
Ricciardo previously spent five years as a Red Bull driver before moving to Renault in 2019.
