McLaren are said to be running out of patience with Daniel Ricciardo after an unconvincing start to his second season with the Formula 1 team.
The Australian has managed to score points in just one of the seven races so far this year, when he delighted his home crowd in Australia with a sixth-placed finish. Other than that strong showing in Melbourne, results from the 32-year-old have been disappointing.
The man who won at Monza last season has failed to make much of an impression since, and his results have been overshadowed by his much younger team-mate Lando Norris. The Briton boasts five top-10 finishes this year already and is raking in the consistent stream of points needed by McLaren.
Ricciardo's failure to do the same has sparked rumours that his days in a papaya car might be numbered. Such speculation only grew more intense when team chief Zak Brown admitted that the Australian's results have "not met his or our expectations".
Ralf Schumacher is the latest to cast doubt upon Ricciardo's future at McLaren. He told Sky Germany : "At McLaren, there are one or the other rumours. The rumours, as well as the statements in the team, are getting louder. He's just too far away from his team-mate. I'm curious how the future looks for him. It will be quite difficult for him."
The suggestion that this season might be his last as a McLaren racer comes after Ricciardo himself admitted that he has something of a retirement plan in place. While he does not plan on hanging up his racing suit any time soon, he made it clear that he has no interest in still being in F1 as a 40-year-old, like Fernando Alonso.
"Unless I start winning every race and it makes a lot of sense, I don't have 10 more in me," he told ESPN earlier this month. So I'm definitely on the second part of [my career]. I couldn't tell you now if it's three years, five years, whatever, but I'm aware that I can't see myself doing this at 40.
"I'm still passionate about the sport and I still want to do good in it, so that's it. It's as simple as that. You just pull back [the negatives]. I'm still enjoying it. The results aren't there yet. But a negative attitude isn't going to help me get those results either."
