"His career looked over"- Daniel Ricciardo cites Sergio Perez's example to prove how F1 can 'change so quickly'

Daniel Ricciardo is choosing to see Sergio Perez's career trajectory as an example of how quickly things can change in F1.

Daniel Ricciardo looks destined to leave McLaren at the end of the season after failing to cut the mustard at Woking since his arrival last year.

Reports suggest he could receive a hefty payout to end his contract ahead of schedule to allow McLaren to replace him with Oscar Piastri in 2023.

As a result, the Honey Badger's future in the sport is in the air as things stand. Ricciardo spoke about it in an interview with motorsport.com prior to the summer break, where he cited Sergio Perez as an example to keep persevering.

The 33-year-old said:

“I was saying it when I was 27, ‘ah, I’m getting older!’ - in a way, yes, I’m getting older, but I think also I know a bit more about the sport now, and I know that things do take time. We all believe we can win. So it’s like, well I want to win tomorrow, but it’s not always like that."

He added:

"Even now, talking about 2024 or ’25, in a way it’s hard to think that far ahead. But it’ll come around quickly. You also take like little things from if it’s a [Sergio] Perez, when his career looked over, and now he’s potentially fighting for a world championship. The sport can change so quickly.”

Ricciardo still has nine races between now and the end of the season to raise his stock and try and find a new team for next year if McLaren do go ahead with Piastri.

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McLaren boss gives valuable advice to frustrated and disappointed Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo's progress at McLaren is being impeded by the Australian's frustrations and disappointments, according to team principal Andreas Seidl.

Ricciardo started in F1 in 2013 with Scuderia Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) before making a name for himself at Red Bull between 2014 and 2018.

The 33-year-old chose to leave for Renault in 2019 in what many considered to be an erroneous move on his part. Since then, Ricciardo's career trajectory has not seen too many positives.

Ricciardo has scored a total of 19 points in 13 rounds of racing this year and his best result was a P6 finish at the 2022 F1 Australian GP.

Seidl touched on what has been a difficult season for both Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren during the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP, where the German said:

“It is clear that if you look at how the season has gone so far with Daniel, he’s disappointed [and] we are disappointed as well. But in the end, frustration or disappointment doesn’t help you, moving forward. The most important thing is to keep going with a clear ambition to make it work.”

Daniel Ricciardo is currently 12th in the World Drivers' Championship standings with 19 points to his name. Next up for him is the 2022 F1 Belgian GP.