“He just has to go out and drive,” Daniel Ricciardo has a simple advice for Oscar Piastri, his replacement at McLaren
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When Daniel Ricciardo had stepped into McLaren after leaving Renault at the end of the 2020 season, fans of the Australian racer were all filled with hope that he will not have the means to drive to his full potential, and maybe even bring quite a few Grand Prix victories to his team. But Danny Ric’s first year at the Woking-based team was a disappointment to many as he could hardly match up to the performance of his younger and less experienced teammate Lando Norris.
In 2022, Ricciardo descended into the Championship campaign with ideas of giving more efforts into racing for the win, but in the end, he could only come 11th in the World Championship standings, with a mere 37 points to his name. His Bosses at McLaren were undoubtedly unimpressed with the way Daniel had yielded upsetting results throughout the recently-concluded season and they decided to prematurely terminate their multi-year contract with him to take up Oscar Piastri.
Now, Formula 2 Champion Oscar Piastri is a fresh talent walking into F1 next year holding hands with McLaren after turning down an offer from Alpine. The Australian youngster has a lot of expectations to live up to because McLaren took a gamble by appointing him in place of Daniel Ricciardo. As the Hobey Badger is now under the Red Bull umbrella as their third driver, he had some parting advice to share with Oscar Piastri before he takes the wheel at McLaren next year.
Daniel Ricciardo encourages Oscar Piastri to absorb lessons like a “sponge” once he comes into F1
Next year’s Formula 1 circus will have many debutants such as Nyck de Vries, Logan Sargeant, and Oscar Piastri. Amongst these new talents, the onus is on Piastri to shine the brightest since a lot of drivers’ market drama went down as multiple teams were vying to sign him as their driver. With such a huge pressure on him, Daniel Ricciardo only wants him to drive. He said, “I think he just has to go out and drive. I realize that seems like a very lazy answer to give, but that’s the way it is: go and drive. Learn, be a sponge, but drive.“
Formula 1 can be a shark for the newcomers who have no experience of surviving in the highest league of motorsports in the world. Having spent more than a decade in this sport, Daniel Ricciardo has had his fair share of experiences dealing with the hopes that the teams and the fans place on the drivers. Thus, he has given some befitting advice to Piastri, who is going to be his replacement at McLaren for next season. Now, it only remains to be seen how Piastri manages to steer through his initial few races in F1 before he gets comfortable in the league.
Read More: Sebastian Vettel to not appear on F1 TV shows: “I’m not going to be a TV pundit.”
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)