"I can't imagine that he'll get another chance in Formula 1"- Former driver on Daniel Ricciardo amidst his uncertain future

Daniel Ricciardo's time in F1 might be close to an end. That's the view of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher. The Australian finds himself in a peculiar situation where McLaren have gone behind his back and signed Oscar Piastri for the 2023 F1 season. Despite Ricciardo having a contract for the 2023 F1 season with McLaren, it does appear as if he'll be paid off by the team instead of driving for them next season.

The Australian is in contention for a seat at Alpine as a replacement for Fernando Alonso but there hasn't been anything official yet. When questioned on the situation at Alpine by Sky Germany, Ralf Schumacher felt that there were other options like Mick Schumacher and even Nico Hulkenberg that Alpine could opt for. The German also said that he felt Daniel Ricciardo's time in F1 might be over and not many teams would give him another chance.

“The names are there, with every cockpit. Mick [Schumacher] hasn’t signed a contract yet either. So he would be a candidate. A candidate with speed, as you can see. Nico Hülkenberg is also still in the starting blocks. And then there's the question of Daniel Ricciardo. Personally, I can't imagine that he'll get another chance in Formula 1. But I wouldn't know who Alpine should take at the moment."

Check out Alpine's controversial post below, which was denied by Oscar Piastri himself:

The German also backed Oscar Piastri in the entire situation and said that Alpine has only itself to blame for the situation it finds itself in, saying:

"The morale is completely out of place. I'm sorry. I like Otmar [Szafnauer], but he himself is disappointed with his own performance, that he didn't see Alonso coming and that he doesn't have a Plan B. That's the embarrassing thing about the whole thing. Accordingly, he has to blame himself. Oscar didn't do anything wrong."

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Schumacher backs Oscar Piastri's move to replace Daniel Ricciardo

Ralf Schumacher said it was the perfect move for Oscar Piastri as it places him in a top team alongside a quality driver in Lando Norris. He said:

"I think it's a very good career move. Otmar is also a great team boss, but under Andy [Seidl] he will feel comfortable, he will be carefully built up there. In Lando Norris he has a young, strong teammate from whom he can learn a lot. So Piastri did everything right."

It will be interesting to see how the pieces fall into place and where drivers like Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri finally end up on the grid next season.