"He has been made a scapegoat." Why everyone's talking about Daniel Ricciardo.

Produced in collaboration between Netflix and Formula One, Drive To Survive first premiered back in 2019, and as a result, there has never been a larger and more engaged motor racing audience.

Drive To Survive has often been described as the ultimate PR move for Formula One. At a time when the sport was gradually losing supporters due to the consistent dominance of top teams like Mercedes, the soapy docuseries swooped in, bringing back old fans and drawing in new ones by focusing on the stories of the underdogs.

And for many fans, one of their favourite racing drivers is none other than Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and it was his dad who got him into motor sport. Uninterested in school during his final years, Ricciardo focused his attention on racing and entered professional single-seater, open-wheel races.

Ricciardo made his track debut behind the wheel of a Formula One car when he tested for Red Bull Racing at the young driver's test in 2009. He was promoted to their Formula One team in 2014 and scored three wins in his first year at the top team, before moving to Renault in 2019 and eventually joining McLaren in 2021.

Watch the Drive to Survive trailer. Story continues below.

Last year, he won the 2021 Italian Formula One Grand Prix.

So why is everyone talking about him you may be asking?

Well according to reports, Ricciardo is set to be dropped by McLaren. And fans aren't happy about it.

Autosport is reporting that one of the Formula One teams - McLaren - has plans to replace Ricciardo with a young fellow Aussie driver Oscar Piastri for the next season in 2023.

It's a bold move. Although Ricciardo does place outside the top ten in the Formula One driver rankings, he continues to be one of the sport's most popular figures. McLaren has reportedly signed a new contract with his replacement, Piastri, assuming that their plan for Ricciardo's early exit is agreed to.

Because interestingly, Ricciardo is still contracted with McLaren for 2023. 

So why is Ricciardo potentially being replaced?

There's no denying that the 33-year-old's motor racing career hasn't been going as well as it once did. 

ESPN journalist and Formula One commentator Nate Saunders has said that four other Formula One teams have reached out to Ricciardo to "see where his head is at", criticising McLaren for their treatment towards Ricciardo.

"It reflects very poorly on McLaren how they have treated Ricciardo over the past six months," Saunders wrote. 

"Ricciardo, the only McLaren driver to have won a Formula One race since 2012, has been the first to admit his performances have not been up to the standards he set at Red Bull and Renault but it feels as though he has been made as a scapegoat to deflect away from deeper problems at the team."

He continued: "Ricciardo remains one of the most marketable talents in Formula One and has done wonders for McLaren's brand away from the racetrack."

Of course, Ricciardo's replacement Piastri has a promising career ahead of him. He has a "brilliant record at junior level", although ESPN said Piastri's Formula One experience specifically is limited.

Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo. Images: Instagram @oscarpiastri/@danielricciardo 

Here's where things get a little tricky. 

Given Ricciardo has a firm McLaren contract for 2023, Ricciardo and McLaren will now have to agree to a settlement involving a substantial pay-off in order for him to walk away early. 

Here's how people are reacting.

Overall, fans are upset about the news, with many saying Ricciardo has been treated poorly by his team.

But some are also noting that the Formula One sport is cut-throat and that Ricciardo should make way for new up-and-coming talent.

Ultimately, Ricciardo has remained upbeat and professional amid the reports of his canning. As he said to Mamamia in 2020, it's his optimism that has helped him through the stress of the sport.

"I think it [optimism] has gotten me to this point to be honest. When you're pursuing such a dream as I had as a kid you need to be optimistic," he said.

"You need to have faith it's going to work, otherwise you're not going to allow yourself to try. It's my personality, and it's also helped me deal with the pressures of the sport, because getting there is one thing but staying there is another."

Ricciardo is yet to publicly comment on the McLaren news.

Daniel Ricciardo leaving Mclaren as their last race winner pic.twitter.com/GyQUa3TepO

— F1 MEMES (@f1tr0ll) August 5, 2022

mclaren twt admin fighting for their life rn trying to calm down daniel ricciardo fans by posting daniel content😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/VJJ7bLYdtP

— steph (@ricformula) August 5, 2022

I’ll always be a fan of Ricciardo, but can you really blame McLaren? They’re paying him out the ass for a driver who’s scored only 20% of the team’s points so far. https://t.co/Yjj3ZlNqde

— Gannon Burgett (@gannonburgett) August 5, 2022

Ricciardo on the way out. The Australian driver was told of McLaren's decision by Andreas Seidl on Sunday evening, after the Hungarian GP, and talks about a contract settlement with the team have been ongoing since.

Full story at the link below https://t.co/G4Vxn47gFX

— Nate Saunders (@natesaundersF1) August 5, 2022

A reminder that Daniel Ricciardo is the only driver to win in a McLaren in the last decade.

If the report below is true I hope Danny Ric SMOKES McLaren with whatever team he finds himself in next season. https://t.co/DKdEsbcSiK

— Matt Hickey (@mhickey23) August 5, 2022

Also, we shouldn't treat drivers leaving F1 as an emotional tragedy. There are millions who want to be Grand Prix drivers but only 20 people in the world can do it, and none of them are hungry or homeless. We should celebrate that they made it there at all, against massive odds

— Sean Kelly (@virtualstatman) August 5, 2022

True Daniel has been very very classy about this and also his failings he’s been honest and hasn’t ever complained about the team despite everything https://t.co/KFd831TYve

— Sahil Mohan Gupta (@DigitallyBones) August 5, 2022

Feature Image: Getty/Instagram @danielricciardo.

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