“He’s a Free Man”: After Ruthlessly Cutting Daniel Ricciardo Off, Zak Brown Denies F1 Veteran’s Foul Play Allegations

Daniel Ricciardo’s welcome back to Red Bull and exit from McLaren were poles apart. The smile that had gone missing was during the McLaren days back on Ricciardo’s face when he joined the Red Bull family. As a new opportunity arises for Ricciardo, Zak Brown denies an F1 veteran’s foul play allegations after cutting the Honey Badger off last year. What were these allegations?

Daniel Ricciardo, after a horrible time at Mclaren, was asked to leave the team. The Australian and McLaren mutually decided the terms of his leaving as he still had a year left on his contract. McLaren ended up paying Ricciardo $18 million as a result of terminating his contract early. Nonetheless, now that Daniel Ricciardo has joined AlphaTauri mid-season after Nyck De Vries’ sacking, the payment terms from McLaren to Ricciardo have taken a hit. 

Now that Ricciardo is employed in a full-time seat, McLaren no longer is obliged to pay the Australian. F1 Veteran Martin Brundle bluntly asked Zak Brown during an interview if McLaren was still paying Daniel Ricciardo despite him being in a rival car. Zak Brown denied Brundle’s foul allegations. According to Mirror.co.uk Brown said, “All of our financial arrangements have come to an end, so he’s a free man and we wish him well and we’re happy to see him on the grid.”

Read More: “Was My Own Worst Enemy”: Daniel Ricciardo Makes a Shocking Confession Owning Up Decision Leading to Disastrous Spell

People had come up with various assumptions and theories of their own before Zak Brown confirmed that the financial arrangement between McLaren and Ricciardo had come to an end. Let’s see what assumptions were made prior to this clarification. 

“On loan to protect his payment”: Red Bull’s master plan as suggested by fans

@EngineMode11 on Twitter asked if Daniel Ricciardo’s severance package from McLaren had any clauses regarding a 2023 full-time seat. Many assumptions were made out of which one stood out. @KJ16976372 advised that the Honey Badger does not have a full-time seat and is just temporarily filling in for the AlphaTauri second seat for the rest of the season.

He further explained how Daniel Ricciardo has just been loaned out by Red Bull to AlphaTauri. That suggested that his status would be Red Bull reserve driver who’s out on loan. The guy who asked the question was baffled and called Red Bull’s move incredible.

What do you make of Zak Brown pushing aside the allegations made by Martin Brundle?

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