Whose decision was the Ricciardo-McLaren split? When did talks start?

Ricciardo will leave McLaren at the end of this season after agreeing a pay-off to terminate the final year of his contract, and is now searching for a new seat to remain in the F1 2023 driver line-up.

“Sometimes things don’t work out,” Ricciardo told Sky about his exit.

“I’m not happy about the situation but I can still look myself in the mirror.

“It is results driven, it’s not my attitude. I struggled to gel consistently with the car.”

Asked when his relationship with McLaren changed, he said: “I knew already after the first handful of races that I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. I knew the team wanted more out of it.

“We started talking after the first few races.”

His exit was confirmed this week, and Ricciardo explained: “We all shook hands, accepted the situation, move on, and find what’s next.

“I always had faith and belief that I could turn it around.

“I didn’t want to walk away from this but the team made the decision.

“I understood that it is best to accept it, and move on.

“I’m a fighter but sometimes it’s best to let it be.”