“F**king Goofballs”: Daniel Ricciardo’s Australian Image Shot Down as Rookie Oscar Piastri Works Toward Stereotypes From Down Under

A party and the paddock don’t feel lively unless there’s an Australian. Why are we talking about it? We’ve mentioned it because F1 is a big party on its own. The fans, the drivers, and the paddock—it’s all a fun place. However, it has lost one of its own party animals, the one who energized every room he entered and brought a smile to everyone’s face—Daniel Ricciardo, who a very un-stereotypical Australian, also termed “boring,” Oscar Piastri, has now replaced. The balance is now believed to be skewed.

People have been absolutely ruthless in his character judgment so far. So has also been the case for other Australian drivers in the past, with one such assessment coming from the Red Flags podcast. The hosts took a dig at Australian drivers as they went on to embrace the stereotypes of an Australian driver. In a mixed bag of comments, they appear to praise Piastri, while sarcastically pointing fingers at Ricciardo for being more light-hearted than was needed from him.

People have been absolutely ruthless in his character judgment so far. So has also been the case for other Australian drivers in the past, with one such assessment coming from the Red Flags podcast. The hosts took a dig at Australian drivers as they went on to embrace the stereotypes of an Australian driver. In a mixed bag of comments, they appear to praise Piastri, while sarcastically pointing fingers at Ricciardo for being more light-hearted than was needed from him.

Comparing the McLaren driver’s characteristics to Australians, but mostly Ricciardo, the hosts in a video said, “I love Oscar Piastri because he’s doing great things for stereotypes about Australians. Not all Australians have to be big, warm f**king goofballs. Some of them could be quiet little weirdos.”

“Yeah, some Australians can’t make eye contact, and they’re not all like beer slamming, like f**king g’day mate! Like some of them are f**king antisocial dude. They’re not all handsome. Life of the party. F**king Hemsworths. Ricciardo. F**king going mudding and dirt biking and playing footy or whatever f**k.The alligator. Some of them look like they’ve lived in a f**king cupboard their entire life. Yeah.”

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The shades dropped were massive. Piastri was hailed while subtly being attacked for his personality, but Ricciardo’s fun persona of a goofball wasn’t spared by any means. The 21-year-old appears to be just waiting to come out of his shell, much like Valtteri Bottas, who is also now embracing his Australian connection by growing his mustache.

Fans back Oscar Piastri against bashing

Daniel and Piastri are absolute opposites. But the Australian DNA of Piastri might not be hidden for long. Much like his predecessors in the sport, Mark Webber and the Honey Badger, he knows his way around the circuits, just waiting for the right car and, of course, a mandatory Aussie stint at Red Bull.

However, fans, as toxic as they can be, want him to adapt immediately to the new lifestyle as they want the stereotypes to come true. A few of the fans bashed the McLaren rookie, saying, “Piastri is such a pip squeak. He is so un-Aussie” and “Piastri is proof that not all Aussies are charismatic 😂”.

Our faith in fans was restored when others came out in defense of Piastri, saying, “Aussies come in all forms, shapes and sizes and we look out for each other. Proud to have another Aussie join the field”, “I think Oscar’s great in interviews, just not a larrikin. I can’t wait for an Aussie to make arrogant Lando become McLaren’s second driver”, and “On the contrary Aussies are tough and hustlers, Oscar seems to be one, Apart from Daniel who downplayed the down under inside him.”

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Piastri carries a lot of potential in driving terms. But also in his hidden and shunned Australian side, which would make more sense to come out once he has numbers to back him.