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McLaren is one of the oldest teams in F1. It is a team that once developed a legacy of giving its drivers equal opportunities to fight for the title. There was never a culture of a 'No.1' and 'No.2' driver within the team. This was also one of the reasons why McLaren became a favorite destination on the F1 grid for top drivers that did not want to be typecast as a 'No.2' driver.
This was evident when the team allowed Ayrton Senna to battle Alain Prost in 1988-89. They then did the same in 2007 with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
However, there has been a change in the last decade. The team's has not done the best job managing their drivers, and the most recent example of this was the Daniel Ricciardo-Oscar Piastri fiasco.
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The 33-year-old publicly announced on July 13 that he would be driving for the team in 2023, unaware that McLaren had already signed Piastri 10 days prior.
While the team has somewhat tried to cover up the news by stating they were always transparent with their driver, it does not look that way.
In the last decade or so, there have been quite a few instances of questionable tactics used by the team. In this feature, we will take a look at three drivers who were victims of those tactics.
#1 Sergio Perez (McLaren 2013 F1 season)
The 2013 F1 season was the first time since 2007 that the team did not have Lewis Hamilton. They brought in young Mexican superstar Sergio Perez as his replacement. He scored multiple podiums in the 2012 F1 season and was one of the most promising drivers on the grid at the time.
The driver was seen as the next big thing when he was picked up. However, it all went up in smoke when the 2013 challenger from the Woking-based squad was not up to the mark. The car was hard to handle, and with Jenson Button in the other car, Perez was somewhat exposed.
Perez was outperformed by Button, 49 points compared to 73, which should have been expected, considering the level at which the British driver was performing. There were still some impressive drives from the Mexican driver, and a second season with the team could have seen further improvements.
It was, however, not in the books for Perez. McLaren, going through political turmoil back then, saw Ron Dennis take over from Martin Whitmarsh. In what was a power move by Dennis, Sergio Perez was replaced by Kevin Magnussen. The Mexican driver was left to find a seat for himself in November 2013, months after the season was over.
Fortunately for Perez, he was able to find a seat at Force India, and at the time, it did appear that McLaren had picked up a promising young driver.
#2 Kevin Magnussen (McLaren 2014 F1 season)
Perez's successor at the team was Danish driver Kevin Magnussen, brought in by Ron Dennis. The young driver made a spectacular debut by securing a podium in his first race with the team at the 2014 Australian GP. This raised expectations from the youngster, who was going to be the second young driver to team up with Jenson Button in two years.
It was an impressive season for a rookie. While 55 points compared to the 126 scored by your teammate doesn't make for good reading, this was still Magnussen's debut season. It looked almost certain that the Danish driver was going to continue with the team for the 2015 F1 season. However, this changed when, Fernando Alonso became available all of a sudden and McLaren rushed to sign the Spaniard.
It was a repeat of the 2013 F1 season, as Kevin Magnussen was informed on his birthday that he would be replaced by Fernando Alonso. Sergio Perez was fortunate enough to get a seat in 2013, but this was not the case with K-Mag. The Danish driver was forced to spend a year on the sidelines, and all the momentum he had built up was hindered.
#3 Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren 2021-22 F1 season)
Finally, this brings us to Daniel Ricciardo. At this stage of the season, he finds himself in a situation where brokering a seat for next season looks tough.
Ricciardo is talented enough to be in F1, but it would have helped if he had known Oscar Piastri had already been signed by the team back in July. This would have given him a few more months to sort out his future.
What Daniel Ricciardo got instead was an egg on his face for posting on social media on July 13 that he would be driving for McLaren in the 2023 F1 season. All this time, the team had already signed his replacement. It's hard to deny that McLaren was not as transparent with him as they could have been. Ultimately, this does leave the Australian driver in a very uncertain position.
It's hard to deny that 'What's good for business' is the motto F1 teams run on. However, at some point, there is a certain sense of responsibility every team should have. Ferrari has been called out for the way it has handled its 'No.2' drivers in the past. Similarly, Red Bull has been called out for how its driver academy can be ruthless at times.
The way McLaren has gone about things in the last decade falls in a similar category. Ricciardo is not the first driver that has seen his replacement get signed behind his back, and he may not be the last one either.
