MOTORSPORT: Ricciardo to McLaren

It’s official: carsales global ambassador Daniel Ricciardo has signed a multi-year deal with McLaren for the 2021 Formula 1 championship and beyond.

The Honey Badger confirmed his departure from Renault after the 2020 season this evening, 24 hours after Sebastien Vettel announced he won’t re-sign with Ferrari for next year.

The two big-name announcements were in turn followed by confirmation that Spanish hotshot Carlos Sainz Jr, 25, will switch from McLaren -- where Lando Norris, 20, will pair with the 30-year-old West Australian -- to Ferrari.

With former world champion Fernando Alonso expected to be offered Ricciardo's Renault seat and Vettel now widely tipped to retire, both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are likely to re-sign with the dominant Mercedes-AMG at the end of their 2020 contracts.

“I am so grateful for my time with @renaultf1team and the way I was accepted into the team,” said Our Dan via social media.

“But we aren’t done and I can’t wait to get back on the grid this year. My next chapter isn’t here yet, so let’s finish this one strong. Merci”

The 2020 Formula 1 season is on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic until at least the Austrian GP in July, so it remains to be seen how many more races Ricciardo will do with Renault – and Vettel with Ferrari.

“On behalf of everyone at Motorsport Australia, I’d like to congratulate Daniel on his new contract with McLaren,” said Motorsport Australia CEO Eugene Arocca.

“The McLaren Formula 1 team has a very long and successful history in motorsport at the highest level and we are very much looking forward to seeing an Australian racing for such an iconic racing team.”

McLaren hopes Ricciardo will be key to returning McLaren to its glory days, having won eight constructors titles -- behind only Ferrari with 16 and Williams with nine. The British team's last F1 title -- and Hamilton's first -- came in 2008.

“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 McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, who also thanked Sainz, the son of multiple world rally and Dakar champion Carlos Sainz Sr.

“I also want to pay tribute to Carlos for the excellent job he has been doing for McLaren in helping our performance recovery plan. He is a real team player and we wish him well for his future beyond McLaren.”

Of Sainz's two-year deal with Ferrari alongside 22-year-old Frenchman Charles Leclerc, who is contracted to 2024, team chief Mattia Binotto said: "Carlos has proved to be very talented and has shown that he has the technical ability and the right attributes to make him an ideal fit with our family.

“We’ve embarked on a new cycle with the aim of getting back to the top in Formula 1. It will be a long journey, not without its difficulties, especially given the current financial and regulatory situation, which is undergoing a sudden change and will require this challenge to be tackled in a different way to the recent past.

"We believe that a driver pairing with the talent and personality of Charles and Carlos, the youngest in the past 50 years of the Scuderia, will be the best possible combination to help us reach the goals we have set ourselves.”

Meantime, Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul said the French factory team would continue its strategy without Ricciardo.

“In our sport, and particularly within the current extraordinary situation, reciprocated confidence, unity and commitment are, more than ever, critical values for a works team,” he said.

“I am confident that the 2020 season will allow us to accomplish even more together. Our ambitions and the strategy of Renault DP World F1 Team remain unchanged.”