McLaren puzzled by Daniel Ricciardo relationship failure: "It's a bit of a great mystery"

McLaren boss Zak Brown claims he is puzzled by Daniel Ricciardo's lack of success with the Woking-based team in 2021 and 2022. The Australian ended his stint with the English team a year early and has chosen to return to Red Bull, where he will take on the role of the third driver.

Ricciardo chose to move to McLaren after a mediocre stint with Renault but failed to impress. The Honey Badger was unable to adjust his driving style to suit that of the car and was regularly outperformed by his much younger and less experienced teammate Lando Norris. While the Australian did manage to win the 2021 Italian GP, he was mostly unimpressive with McLaren, leading the team to choose F2 champion Oscar Piastri over him for the 2023 season. Zak Brown is unsure why Daniel Ricciardo was unable to find success with his team, expressing his confusion in an interview with Speedcafe.

Brown said:

"We've certainly analyzed it. We gave it everything we've got, Daniel gave it everything he's got and our relationship with Daniel was great. It was clearly disappointing for both of us as to the outcome but I think it's a bit of a great mystery as to why. I don't think Daniel knows, we don't know, we tried everything. Maybe we worked too hard. I think, ultimately, that's why we both decided to make a change because we had tried everything and we really didn't know why it wasn't clicking."

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Daniel Ricciardo expects 'hard answer' with 2023 Red Bull comeback

Daniel Ricciardo claims his role as the third driver for Red Bull in 2023 will tell if he truly wants to return to the grid in 2024. The Australian lost his McLaren seat to compatriot Oscar Piastri after two unsuccessful seasons with the Woking-based team.

Ricciardo could benefit from a break from the grid in 2023 as he will have time to ask himself some tough questions. The Australian driver claims watching the grid take off in Bahrain next year will tell him whether or not he wants to return to the grid in a full-time capacity the following year. If he feels like he wants to make his return in 2024, then realizing that early on in the 2023 season might be extremely beneficial from a planning perspective. Meanwhile, the eight-time Grand Prix winner will help develop the 2023 Red Bull car with his former team.

Daniel Ricciardo told the In The Fast Lane podcast:

"I would be very, very surprised if I watch races, especially when I’m at the track, and I’m not wishing I was out there and not wishing I was competing and stuff like that. I think that’s also the beauty of next year and having that time off, it’ll give me that hard answer, you know, [of] what I truly want and also I could watch round one and I’ll be like, ‘I don’t want to sit out this whole year’, and then that will just build into something probably really positive for me over the course of ’23."

It remains to be seen whether or not the Australian will return to the sport in a full-time capacity in the coming years. As it stands, Daniel Ricciardo will play a pivotal role in helping Max Verstappen and team defend their 2022 titles.