Daniel Ricciardo finished 13th at the Monaco Grand Prix after crashing in P2; McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said he was not meeting the team's expectations; Jenson Button: "When your team principal comes out and says that, it definitely hurts."
Tuesday 31 May 2022 07:42, UK
Jenson Button says Daniel Ricciardo has been placed in a difficult position after the McLaren driver was accused of not meeting the team's expectations.
Ricciardo suffered another setback at the Monaco GP, finishing 13th following a crash in practice two.
The incident came days after McLaren chief executive Zak Brown told Sky Sports F1's Any Driven Monday the Australian is not "comfortable" with the car and failing to meet his or the team's expectations.
Speaking on this week's show, Button said: "Zak is his own man and I can't change his thoughts and what he says, but I was surprised that he came out and said that.
"Everyone with the team should be protecting these drivers.
"Formula 1 is a real mental game. They all have immense skill but you don't perform if your head is not in the right place.
"I was surprised Zak came out and said he was not meeting expectations - we all know that. But when your team principal comes out and says that, it definitely hurts. From Daniel's response, it hurt.
"I'm hoping that they have talked since the race and they can just focus on really getting the best out of Daniel and the team around him for the rest of the year. Then we'll see where he ends up in the future.
"It's not an easy situation for a driver. And then everything we see - he had the incident and the engineer said, 'is the car okay?' And Daniel replied, 'I'm okay'. We all pick up on that as soon as we hear Zak be kind of negative about Daniel. It just spirals out of control."
Ricciardo is under contract until 2023 but Brown hinted at "mechanisms" that could end the deal early.
Asked about Ricciardo's immediate future, Button replied: "Daniel came into the team in a very strong position. I would say the contract is more in his favour, but there will always be clauses.
"To be fair, if a team doesn't want you driving for them, you don't want to be there - and vice versa. Normally there's an easier way out of it than just the clauses in the contract."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff defended Lewis Hamilton after another frustrating day in 2022, condemning Fernando Alonso's hold-up in the Monaco GP while also insisting the seven-time champion and George Russell are "very much on the same pace".
Hamilton finished eighth in Sunday's frenetic wet-dry Monte Carlo affair, which is also where he qualified, as F1's most successful driver finished behind young team-mate George Russell for the sixth race in a row.
Hamilton was first frustrated by the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, who earned a penalty for contact with the Mercedes, and then of Alonso, who slowly held Hamilton up around the narrow streets.
"He could have been right there and could have closed Lando [Norris, sixth] or even fight with George [fifth] and Lando at the front because that was his pace," Wolff said afterwards.
Hamilton is currently sixth in the drivers' standings, 75 points behind leader Max Verstappen. Late on Sunday night, he posted a message to fans on his Instagram stories as he stated: "I'm sorry I haven't given you any great results this year but I won't give up, we win and lose together."
