The McLaren Formula 1 team has announced that Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo will drive for the team from 2021.

In the same announcement, the team mentioned that Carlos Sainz Jr. will leave the team at the end of 2020.

As is tradition with Formula 1, secrets and driver movements are never kept quiet and it seems that people know more or less what is going to happen before teams have a chance to confirm the news.

Having had very limited success at Renault, Ricciardo has chosen to move on in the hopes of getting to the top of the grid. Renault had had a largely unsuccessful 2019. Ricciardo cut a frustrated figure at Renault having being promised improvements in performance but none of those promises seemed to have materialised.

“Signing Daniel is another step forward in our long-term plan and will bring an exciting new dimension to the team, alongside Lando. This is good news for our team, partners and of course our fans,” commented Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing.

“I also want to pay tribute to Carlos for the excellent job he has been doing for McLaren in helping our performance recovery plan. He is a real team player and we wish him well for his future beyond McLaren.”

I am so grateful for my time with @renaultf1team and the way I was accepted into the team. But we aren’t done and I can’t wait to get back on the grid this year. My next chapter isn’t here yet, so let’s finish this one strong. Merci pic.twitter.com/YFfzbwrgD7

— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) May 14, 2020

This could be a very good, well-timed move from Ricciardo. In 2021, McLaren will move to Mercedes power units. McLaren have been on the up since switching to Renault engines. With the combination of a Mercedes power unit and the momentum, McLaren are carrying we could see a McLaren team regularly visiting the podium.

All that needs to happen now is for Ferrari to announce the arrival of Carlos Sainz to Maranello and the puzzle will be complete.