Daniel Ricciardo was meant to be a McLaren driver until the end of 2023. Even though he never felt comfortable in McLaren’s machinery—and knew that he could never, even figuratively, get too comfortable in that seat—he had the cushion of at least another season after the dismal 2022 to sort his F1 future out. So when CEO Zak Brown unceremoniously gave Ricciardo his two weeks’ notice and already had another Australian ready to take his place, there was a hate storm brewing under the smiling facade.

Even though Ricciardo always knew his seat was in danger at McLaren, it didn’t soften the blow of the premature sacking. Although he didn’t stray away from his usual cheeriness while he was still at McLaren, as soon as he got out, he used social media to direct his hate toward Zak Brown—he unfollowed his former boss on Instagram! But now, a year after giving Ricciardo the bad news, McLaren is using him as inspiration.

Daniel Ricciardo in papaya orange at Monza is a good combination

Despite what it may have looked like from the outside, Ricciardo’s time at McLaren wasn’t all bad. Remember the 2021 Italian GP? To jog your memory, Ricciardo led Lando Norris across the line in a McLaren 1-2 finish, the Woking team’s first win since the 2012 Brazilian GP. To put into perspective just how remarkable that result was, McLaren was the only team to achieve a 1-2 in 2021—a season dominated by Mercedes and Red Bull—and Ricciardo was the driver to give McLaren that win. 

So despite the residual bad blood between Ricciardo and Brown, Team Principal Andrea Stella is using the Honey Badger’s best moment in McLaren orange as fuel to continue McLaren’s miraculous turnaround. Although the Dutch GP was nothing short of disappointing for the Woking outfit, this weekend’s Italian GP comes with new opportunities, ones that Stella has no intention of letting go of. In McLaren’s official Italian GP preview on their website, Stella said, “The Italian GP in Monza, which recalls some good memories for our team, marks the last of the European races.”

“The last few Grands Prix saw us gain a nice number of points following our upgrades to the MCL60,” the Italian continued. As McLaren looks to continue building on its newfound performance and maybe squeeze out another good result at Monza, Ricciardo—unfortunately—will not be able to replicate his 2021 Monza performance this weekend.

Read More: Days After Soul Crushing Crash, Daniel Ricciardo Served Another Brutal Blow by Christian Horner

Daniel Ricciardo set to miss his team’s home race

The Honey Badger just can’t seem to catch a break. After his disrespectful ouster from McLaren, he returned to Red Bull, following which he earned a full-time driver role at AlphaTauri towards the end of the first half. But as soon as F1 returned after the summer break, the second practice session on Friday wrote Ricciardo off for the rest of the weekend. After a crash with the barriers, the Aussie fractured a metacarpal bone in his left hand, forcing Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson to assume his super-substitute duties.

Despite getting surgery done earlier this week, Ricciardo will miss the Italian GP as well. While he may be unable to help AlphaTauri relive the Monza victory it achieved in 2020 with Pierre Gasly, the Italian team will help Lawson achieve his dream. The young New Zealander said, “Racing in Monza with an Italian team will be special. I expect this home race in Monza will be even more significant. It’s great to be able to do that. It’s always been my dream: it’s nice to be able to have this opportunity, and I will try to make the most of it.”

Can McLaren repeat that Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris 1-2 at Monza this weekend, or will its form from Zandvoort continue?

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