Daniel Ricciardo says he will look back at his time at McLaren “with a smile”.
On Wednesday, it was announced the Australian and McLaren had “mutually agreed” to end his contract one year early at the end of 2022.
This after a difficult two-year spell at the team which has seen Ricciardo struggle alongside Lando Norris as he struggled to adapt to the car’s handling characteristics.
Even so, the eight-time Grand Prix winner vowed to focus on the positives from his time at Woking.
“I look back on this time with McLaren, I look back with a smile,” he said.
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“I learned a lot about myself, I think things that will help me for the next step in my career but I think just in general, in life.
“You know, from a results point of view, for sure, to consistently get the results and the form I was after, it wasn’t always there, and it made some weekends tough.
“I felt those, absolutely, but I also have many happy memories of my time at the team, and I think about Monza, I think about standing on the top step, I think about bringing the team their first win since 2012, you know, like that sort of stuff was awesome.
“To see the smiles from everyone’s faces, to be in that moment, that’s something I’ll never forget, so yes, there’s a lot of good stuff to take from this as well.
“We had a lot of discussions, but in the end, we mutually agreed that this is the right thing for both of us. I will continue to do the rest of this year, absolutely, and I’ll continue to give it my all. So that’s that.”
Now on the driver market for 2023, Ricciardo has been linked with moves to Alpine and Haas.
And the 33-year-old insists his passion for F1 and self-confidence remain very much intact.
“The sport, I still love it, I still love it,” he declared. “This hasn’t affected any of that, I still have that fire in me, that belief in my belly, that I can do this at the highest level.
“So yes, all that stuff is still there. But yes, I just wanted to say I appreciate everyone’s support from the highs, to the lows – everything in between.
“This isn’t it for me. We’ll see what lies ahead. I just wanted to say I appreciate you…”
