It was announced late this morning by Adam Stern that Daniel Ricciardo is out at McLaren as he will be replaced by his fellow countryman Oscar Piastari. Many were surprised he was called up this quickly considering he was being touted as the next reserve driver while Ricciardo finished his contract. It was a decision that is hugely unpopular among fans as he is one of the most popular drivers in the sport and as unfortunate as it is, the writing had been on the wall for quite some time now. It has been a tough season for Daniel as he's only scored 19 points, a stark contrast to his teammate Lando Norris who has scored 76 points including a podium. The change needed to be made for both drivers as it is clear this paring isn't working. So what's next for him? Here are a few possible landing spots.
Alpine/Renault: This team is by far the most likely where he will end up. As we all know, he drove here back in 2020 when the team was called Renault and was the number one driver for them but after an opportunity arose when Carlos Sainz left for Ferrari at Mclaren, he took it. Now with the team under new management with Otmar Szanfnauer calling the shots, he seems open to the idea of having him reunite with Ocon.
HAAS: Personally, I would like to see him come here. This is a team that while still developing would truly look after him and appreciate what he brings. Not to mention Gene Haas's NASCAR connections could really be exciting considering Daniel's NASCAR fascination. This will all be dependent on what Mick Schumacher is doing next season although there are grumblings that Schumacher could be interested in going to Alphatari. that's unlikely considering Grassley just resigned. I would say this isn't likely but with the way, this season has been who knows?
Williams: For the sake of being in F1, this might be the last resort for Ricciardo. This team has struggled since George Russel left but, they have shown flashes as Alexander Albon has scored some points this season which earned him an extension. It's clear that Nicholas Latifi isn't cutting it and has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Daniel would definitely be an upgrade and I am sure that Williams would love to have a driver of his caliber on their team.
IndyCar: This is the unlikeliest scenario but it would be awesome to see him in this series. He would easily become the most popular driver on the grid and could find a lot of success like his F1 counterparts in Marcus Ericson and Roman Grosjean. He's made it clear that he doesn't want to race ovals but so did many other drivers. With McLaren running an IndyCar team and a possible open spot with the Alex Palou drama raging on, logistically it would be easy for him to slot into Felix Rosenqvest's seat. Also, Andretti Autosport has a ride that is open for next season as their current driver Devlin Defrancesco is not having the best of times right now.
NASCAR: Another highly unlikely scenario but would be awesome to see. There are two teams right now that I think would show interest in him one being Trackhouse and their "Project91" car and the other being Team Hezeberg as they recently had former F1 driver Daniil Kyvatt (aka the Russian Torpedo) in their car at Indy. I could see him fall into the Juan Pablo Montoya role and run a full season in NASCAR, besides his number is 3 for Dale.