F1 News: McLaren still "don't know" root cause of Daniel Ricciardo struggles
Zak Brown admits that McLaren has failed to identify the root cause of Daniel Ricciardo's issues at the team, which ultimately resulted in his departure.
Ricciardo's position at McLaren unravelled quickly and suddenly last year, with the Woking squad opting to sign the up-and-coming Oscar Piastri for the 2023 season.
Despite Ricciardo's difficulties in his first year with the team, his victory in Monza demonstrated his calibre and experience fighting at the front.
This was a small example of the reason McLaren and Ricciardo initially joined forces - and why the move was once described as a win-win by most of the paddock.
Unfortunately, things would only worsen after this race victory, and the 33-year-old would fail to recapture his best form in 2022.
Ricciardo actually started last season in reasonable form, closely matching teammate Lando Norris throughout the race weekend in Jeddah and Australia.
But the situation slowly worsened as the year progressed, with the British Grand Prix serving as the most obvious case study for the failures of this partnership.
Speaking in an interview with Speedcafe, Zak Brown was candid about McLaren's two years with the Australian:
"Our relationship with Daniel was great, still is great.
"As difficult as it was, clearly disappointing for both of us as to the outcome, but I think it's a bit of a great mystery as to why.
"I don't think Daniel knows. We don't know. We tried everything.
"Maybe we worked too hard. We certainly tried, and just didn't work."
Brown has shown a similar openness to Daniel Ricciardo about the situation, admitting that all efforts to make the partnership work were in vain.
Whilst this candidness is appreciated, McLaren should work diligently to ensure Oscar Piastri does not experience similar difficulties.
Piastri's junior career suggests he can perform very well at Formula 1, so McLaren cannot allow the issues which plagued Ricciardo to reappear in 2023.