F1: Ricciardo relationship not broken

(GMM) Speculation Daniel Ricciardo may lose his McLaren seat at the end of the season appears to be fading for now.

Team CEO Zak Brown caused a stir recently when he said there were “mechanisms” to extract the struggling Australian from his 2023 contract, as he had “generally not met his or our expectations”.

Subsequently, the 32-year-old driver revealed he had “some chats” with Brown, coinciding with an improvement in form.

“I think we need to focus on giving our drivers better race cars,” Brown said when asked about the current status of McLaren’s relationship with Ricciardo.

When asked whether relations with the former Red Bull driver had changed recently, he insisted: “No, not at all.

“I was asked a question and I just gave an honest answer,” Brown explained, referring to his aforementioned reference to contract ‘mechanisms’ that could be invoked.

“I think Daniel has said the same thing. We’re here to try and get towards the front,” he insisted.

“I think he’s highly motivated. He has all of our support, we’re having fun and we have a great relationship with him.

“We had dinner a couple of weeks ago in London, we have good laughs together and enjoy racing together so the relationship with Daniel has never been better,” the American added.