Daniel Ricciardo: 2021 rule delay won't affect contract negotiations, for any driver

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo: 2021 rule delay won't affect contract negotiations, for any driver

The vast regulation changes have been postponed to 2022,

Martin Macdonald

Sunday 22 March 2020 10:13

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Daniel Ricciardo doesn’t believe that the postponement of the 2021 Formula 1 regulation changes until 2022 will impact how drivers make their decision about who to drive for.

The original plan was for a major revamp of the sport to happen in 2021, with budget caps and standardised engine parts just a couple of the factors set to be introduced.

After the outbreak of the coronavirus caused the 2020 season to be delayed indefinitely, the decision was made to push back the regulation change a year.

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The 2020 campaign is also noted having big-name drivers performing in the last year of their current contract including Ricciardo with Renault, Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes, and Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.

Even though the 2021 changes have been delayed, Ricciardo doesn’t think this will affect where drivers end up.

The state of the 2020 Formula 1 seasonRead more

"Everything's messed up right now and it's hard to say, but my best guess is that people will make the decisions they want to irrespective of how things have changed," Ricciardo told Australian newspaper The Age.

"I find it hard to believe that anyone would sign a one-year deal just to be a free agent for '22 because of the risks involved. Unless you're in a unique situation, one year is normally far from ideal, so I imagine any contracts signed from now will carry over from the old regs to the new regs now coming on for '22.

"It does make it interesting when you consider most of us aren't contracted after this year besides Max [Verstappen] and Charles [Leclerc]."

The postponement of the regulation alterations was made after all 10 teams agreed, but Ricciardo has admitted to being surprised that this was the decided outcome.

"My first thought when I heard the news was surprise that it would be delayed, so I need to digest things more before working out how I feel about it other than that," he explained.

"So much is up in the air right now that anything seems possible."

So far, 2020 races in Australia, Bahrain, Vietnam, China, the Netherlands, Spain, and Monaco have all been cancelled or posponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.