Why Brown found reaction to Ricciardo's McLaren exit 'frustrating'
McLaren boss Zak Brown admits that it was "challenging" to be judged on the decision for the team to part ways with Daniel Ricciardo .
Ricciardo had endured a difficult spell with the squad since joining in 2021, and it was confirmed over the summer of 2022 that both parties had mutually agreed to end their multi-year contract early.
This left the Australian without a seat on the grid for 2023, with McLaren bringing in rookie Oscar Piastri as his replacement to join Lando Norris at the team.
Brown says that Ricciardo's exit from the outfit was one aspect of what proved to be a challenging 12 months overall.
"It's been a very tough year," Brown said in an interview for McLaren.
"And it's personal, business is personal. Specifically Daniel, who's been tremendous to work with and gave us our first win [at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix].
"We had a lot of fun together, and we had a lot of frustration together that it didn't w...