Months After Being Brutally Rejected for $3,000,000, Guenther Steiner Hits Back at Daniel Ricciardo With Ruthless Reality Check

The two-year-long partnership between McLaren and Daniel Ricciardo was underwhelming, to say the least. The frustration between the two got to the point that they mutually terminated the contract prematurely by one year. While the Honey Badger was a free agent, Haas was looking for a replacement for Mick Schumacher. Team boss Guenther Steiner approached Ricciardo to fill the empty cockpit, but the Australian driver rejected the offer. Now, as he spends a year away from the track hoping for a return, Steiner has hit back with a reality check.

Before zeroing in on Nico Hulkenberg, Steiner admitted to being in touch with Ricciardo. In one of the episodes of the recent season of Drive to Survive, we saw why the former McLaren driver rejected the offer. Haas was paying Kevin Magnussen $7 million back then, but Daniel demanded $10 million. That, for an arguably cash-strapped team like Haas, was a big ask and eventually became the reason for the breakdown of negotiations.

Guenther Steiner doubts if any team will take Daniel Ricciardo in

After announcing his departure from McLaren and to this day, Daniel remains firm in his commitment to rejoin the grid in 2024. A year of hiatus, according to him, will rekindle his love for the sport. But for him to come back, there has to be at least one team that will open its arms to him.

Speaking with Mail Sport recently, the Haas team principal said, “But does he want to come back and prove that he is what he was before, which is to say a winner. Or will he be given the opportunity? Because it’s not just his decision. It’s also the decision of one of the teams that hires him. So the answer is not simple, but I think the first thing he has to do is find out if he wants to come back or No.” [Translated using Google]

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While making his intentions of a comeback clear, Ricciardo also remains firm on doing so with a big team. But will any vacancies open up at the end of the year?

Ricciardo does not want to return to F1 just for the sake of it

Driving for a team like Red Bull in the past, Daniel did justice to his position in the team. However, when he arrived at McLaren, the team was already in the middle of a rough period, which hasn’t stopped until now. That has made one thing clear in the Honey Badger’s mind- he does not see himself driving for a mid-table or a bottom-rung team.

Recently speaking with Speedcafe, he explained, “I still am at a point where it’s not at any cost, it’s not just to be back on the grid. So a lot of the reasons of taking this year off, one of the things I said, I was like, I just didn’t want to jump back into a car, any car just to be one of the F1 drivers.”

“I still am at a point where it’s not at any cost, it’s not just to be back on the grid. So a lot of the reasons of taking this year off, one of the things I said, I was like, I just didn’t want to jump back into a car, any car just to be one of the F1 drivers.”

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Do you think any team will take him if he carries on with this attitude? Or is Ricciardo still a hot enough property for the big players to jump on him?