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Daniel Ricciardo has been the talk of the town due to his performances at McLaren. The Australian hasn't had the best of times with the team and, in a recent report by BBC, two fresh new names have caught McLaren's interest: Sebastian Vettel and Alex Albon.
The possibility of the four-time world champion replacing Ricciardo has received a mixed response, with some fans scoffing at the idea while others thinking it might be a legitimate move.
One user who scoffed at the idea wrote:
“Vettel is even more washed than Ricciardo lmfao”
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Others felt that if Daniel Ricciardo, already an experienced driver, could not do much in that McLaren, then Sebastian Vettel wouldn't be able to make much of an impact either.
One such fan tweeted:
“Disagree, Ricciardo already is an experienced driver and it didn't work out. Why should it go any diffrent for vettel? Not saying vettel would do that bad, but i don't think mclaren will hire a driver because of his experience alone. And on performance atm vettel isn't top tier.”
Some accounts laughed off McLaren's approach, with so many names having been associated with Daniel Ricciardo's seat in recent times. One such tweet read:
“After Oscar Piastri, Colton Herta, Pato O'Ward and Pierre Gasly, now we have Sebastian Vettel and Alex Albon... Who's left now? Does @JensonButton still drive? He was handy in a McLaren. Why not Brundle? C'mon @McLarenF1, how many courtships are we looking at here? #F1”
Here are some more interesting reactions across social media:
“Ricciardo is a great driver, but if he is underdelivering, maybe a swap move with Vettel could work? The real problem is who could substitute him, Vettel could do a decent job, since i don't think McLaren really need a young driver at the moment, they could swap to try something.”
“If Ricciardo can't make that McLaren competitive, I doubt Vettel is going to make much more of a difference.”
“i’m not opposed to a vettel ricciardo swap at all tbh”
Will Buxton on Daniel Ricciardo seat rumors: There's no smoke without fire
F1 digital presenter Will Buxton feels there is certainly something going on in the background because of which these names keep popping up. He believes that there is a high possibility of McLaren replacing Ricciardo because of the kind of names that keep getting called out time and again.
Buxton recently tweeted:
“As I said at the top, there’s rarely smoke without fire. First it was Gasly being mooted for the second McLaren F1 seat. Now Piastri, Albon and Vettel. These things don’t just magic themselves up. And while the denials are there, they haven’t been categorical in the detail.”
Daniel Ricciardo's performances have left a lot to be desired this season and it does appear that the walls are closing in on the Australian in McLaren.
