Daniel Ricciardo Makes Final Wish After Oscar Piastri McLaren Handoff

Daniel Ricciardo’s time at McLaren was quite eventful, yet it ended on a low note for the driver, who didn’t grab a seat on the grid for 2023 and will be taking a break at Red Bull. Despite his early struggles to compete against his teammate, Lando Norris, he got the team its first win since 2012. Unfortunately, he was unable to maintain his charm and racing in 2022 and was eventually replaced by sensational countryman Oscar Piastri.

Moving in from Renault in 2021, Ricciardo’s compatibility with the car wasn’t great. The team had a hard time adjusting for him, given that the car was better suited for their young driver, Lando Norris. However, the Australian now believes that Piastri will benefit from his struggles as well as the lessons learned from his time with the team.

On Beyond the Grid podcast, Ricciardo said, “I think also even if we didn’t quite get it right from my side, with McLaren I think they still would’ve learned a bunch from our two years, and maybe things where we deviated, went a little wrong or sideways.”

He further wished, “So, I think all that, that knowledge can be passed on to Oscar and I think they will. I would like to think they will have a little bit of a head start from that point of view.”

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Oscar Piastri is coming in as a hotshot, and all eyes will be on him in his rookie season. With a lot of expectations, the team will probably have to cater more to him initially and try to strike a balance in terms of prioritizing their drivers.

Daniel Ricciardo’s advice to Oscar Piastri

Daniel Ricciardo has been driving in Formula 1 for over a decade, with multiple teams on his resume. The driver was believed to have been brought in by McLaren to help Norris learn and grow, but things didn’t pan out as expected. But he believes that there’s still fire left in him to compete.

As a senior driver, he had a few words of wisdom and advice for Piastri, saying, “I think just go out and drive. I know that sounds like a really lazy response but it’s just go and drive. 

“Learn, be a sponge, but drive. Don’t see the bar too high for yourself, if you end up doing better than maybe what you thought, awesome, but just take it race by race. But as long as you are learning and you feel like you are improving every race, I think that is all you can kind of ask for yourself.”

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What’s next for Ricciardo in F1 remains unknown. With Red Bull, the chances of him driving on the track seem low, but the simulators will certainly keep him in touch with his skills and help him make a strong comeback whenever that happens.