London: Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo will leave the Renault Formula One team and race for McLaren from 2021.
McLaren Racing announced today that it has signed Daniel Ricciardo to a multi-year agreement to race for the team in the Formula One World Championship from 2021, said McLaren in a statement on Thursday.
Renault also confirmed the move and said: Within the unprecedented context of the 2020 season, discussions held with Daniel Ricciardo concerning a renewal of his contract beyond the end of 2020 have not been successful.
The 30-year-old will join Britain’s Lando Norris who will start his third season at McLaren in 2021.
Signing Daniel is another step forward in our long-term plan and will bring an exciting new dimension to the team, alongside Lando. This is good news for our team, partners and of course our fans, said Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, Andreas Seidl, Team Principal, McLaren F1, commented: Daniel is a proven race-winner and his experience, commitment and energy will be a valuable addition to McLaren and our mission to return to the front of the field. With Daniel and Lando as teammates, I believe we have two racers who will continue to excite our fans and help the team grow.
Meanwhile, it was also announced that Carlos Sainz will leave McLaren at the end of the 2020 season after two years with the team.
Earlier this week, Germany’s Sebastian Vettel’s had announced that he will leave Ferrari at the end of the season, thus putting doubts on his future in Formula 1 beyond 2020.