Ricciardo will not receive ‘another chance’ post-McLaren, predicts Ralf Schumacher

Daniel Ricciardo won’t get another chance in Formula 1 should he not stay at McLaren next season, predicts former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher.

Ricciardo has a contract at McLaren until the end of 2023 and put speculation over his future seemingly to bed last month when he insisted he wanted to see out his deal despite struggling this season.

But McLaren have been heavily linked with Alpine test driver Oscar Piastri since the start of the summer break, with the 2021 F2 champion insisting he won’t be driving for Alpine next season despite the team announcing him as their replacement for Aston Martin-bound Fernando Alonso.

Piastri’s statement has led many to believe that he has a seat lined up elsewhere, with McLaren the favourite for his signature and talk of the Woking-based team buying-out Ricciardo’s contract has been mooted.

But Schumacher, who raced for Williams, Jordan and Toyota during his time in the sport, believes 33-year-old Ricciardo won’t get another drive if he leaves McLaren, even though he has been linked with moving to Alpine to take that spare 2023 seat alongside Esteban Ocon.

“There is the question of Daniel Ricciardo,” Schumacher toldSky Germany.

“Personally, I can’t imagine him getting another chance in Formula 1. But I wouldn’t know who Alpine should take at the moment.”

Eight-time race winner Ricciardo first drove in Formula in 2011 for HRT and then Toro Rosso before stepping up to Red Bull from 2014-2018.

He was at Renault for two years before his move to McLaren and has endured a difficult 2022 season so far; he is currently 12th in the Drivers Standings having registered just 19 points and is 57 points behind teammate Lando Norris.