Daniel Ricciardo‘s forceful departure from McLaren was one of the most painful things of the 2022 season. The Australian was pushed out in favor of another driver from the same land down under. The saga, even though over, still gives nightmares to fans and involved parties alike. One such person is McLaren’s ex-Boss Andreas Seidl, who was in charge of handling the honey badgers’ departure.

McLaren had to deal with their own issues before officially taking on the rookie, Oscar Piastri, as their new driver. Seidl, who also shifted base from McLaren, recalls the early termination of Ricciardo’s contract was one of the most difficult things he had to handle during his career. Both Daniel Ricciardo and Andreas Seidl are not a part of the Papaya crew for the upcoming 2023 season. However, a couple of months ago, the latter had to break it to the former driver that the team did not want to continue with him.

Before his exit from McLaren, in an interview with GPFans, Seidl said, “Professionally, it was definitely one of the toughest things I had to deal with in my motorsport career. Having these open and honest discussions with a great driver and a great guy like Daniel was tough.”

But post addressing the then elephant in the room, the duo continues to share a good relationship. Highlighting the same, Seidl said, “We still have a great relationship where we can still go for a dinner or a beer at night.”

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While the driver and former boss still share a good bond post the dreaded discussion, a key factor brought them to this juncture.

Daniel Ricciardo and his ex-boss maintained transparency

The respectful and transparent transaction that followed the early termination news made it easier for the harbinger. Moreover, it even kept their relationship intact.

Recalling that the exit discussion was like another discussion that happened during their time together at the Woking-based team, he said, “I’m very, very happy that we both managed together to do it in a way, with this transparency and open dialogue we always had, that we still could finish a season together with great commitment from both sides to finish on a high.”

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Still, not entirely away from the F1 circus, do you think Dany Ric can make a full-time comeback?