Why Ricciardo's Demands Were Too High for Haas Boss
Feb.17 - Daniel Ricciardo simply wanted too much money to stay on the Formula 1 grid this year, according to Haas boss Gunther Steiner.
After two disappointing years with McLaren, former Red Bull race winner Ricciardo - now 33 - was ousted.
Ultimately, he has returned to Red Bull for 2023 as a brand ambassador, but not even as a full-time reserve - as he will only attend about 8 grands prix.
For instance, he will not be in Bahrain.
One narrative is that, after 12 seasons in F1, the Australian has simply fallen out of love with racing.
That case seems to be strengthened by Steiner's admission that Ricciardo was an obvious candidate to replace Mick Schumacher in 2023 - a seat that ultimately went to Nico Hulkenberg.
"I don't know, ask him," Steiner said last season when asked why brief talks with Ricciardo broke down.
Ricciardo even said the Williams seat was "potentially available" for 2023, but ultimately preferred the current plan which is better for his "long term" future.
But yet another potential narrative is that McLaren would not have contractually had to pay out the final year in Ricciardo's multi-million dollar salary if he had accepted an alternative race seat for 2023.
In the soon-to-be-released latest edition of Drive to Survive, Haas boss Steiner is shown talking to Kevin Magnussen as they consider who the Dane's teammate should be in 2023.
"Ricciardo?" Magnussen reportedly suggested.
"We can't afford it, Kevin. He wants ten f***ing million. Minimum."
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What a cheek , asking for $10 mill after 2 very poor seasons.
He certainly took Alpine and NcLaren for a bundle. More fools them.
Good luck to RIC for managing to get them to pay that money. McLaren foolish for signing him up to a contract where they didn't allow themselves an out if he didn't perform.
Les, if we are going to give credence to Netflix scripts then we may just as well believe in UFO's. For months it was reported that Gunny claimed no contact with RIC. Now he has a soundbite on a US virtual reality show and claims otherwise? Fact is it seems that RIC took the MCL $$$ and then got a bit more from RB, and went to play in the outback. Why would he take less $$$ to drive a Haas? Look at RIC's history. $$$ have been his motivation for several years.
but as per the report, mcl are only paying him , because Da$$i R , had used up all his lifelines and no one top needed or wanted him, If a top seat had opened up theyd not have needed to pay him, just hope the new kid and new car at Mcl is Good, or not looking to good at Mcl
My understanding was the opposite, i.e., Haas offered him but was uninterested in joining them.
About 8 GPs, I haven't seen any reference to a specific number concerning how many events he possibly attends.
I know he'll definitely attend the Australian & LV GPs at the very least.
Yes, Jere, that was the reporting until Gunny did his Netflix usual crap.
Indeed
'but he was uninterested in joining them'
- I don't know how I managed to not get 'he' in between.
Oh god who cares, he’s reckoned to be worth at least 50 million and he’s a bit jaded at the moment. Well poor him right now there are a few people around the world entitled to feel jaded.
How much longer till they start driving again.
I’m actually looking forward to Stroppy being beastly about the noble knight, hope he doesn’t keep winning.
Spot on Blo. For comedy factor RIC is fine but for the credibility of F1 he should move over for a young gun who is less interested in money and more interested in results.