Following Daniel Ricciardo’s Misery, Aussie Prodigy Oscar Piastri Tipped to Fall Prey to Unpleasant Trend

The way Oscar Piastri made his Formula One debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix was not what he would’ve imagined. The Melburnian who replaced Daniel Ricciardo when Mclaren severed connections with the honey badger raced for only 13 laps before an electrical problem put a stop to his race. That being said, when the papaya club planned to outperform the other top middle teams in the manner they did in 2020, McLaren CEO Zak Brown admitted that the essential advancements that would have made the car perform magnificently were missing. Moreover, Piastri’s campaign may also become subject to the unfavorable Aussie curse.

Piastri’s previous Alpine team seemed to be on course to contend for the top-midfield position after Pierre Gasly moved up from grid position 20 to finish ninth and gain points. While revealing his thoughts on Oscar Piastri’s case of choosing McLaren instead of Alpine, Karun Chandhok claimed that the Aussie prodigy might fall prey to an unpleasant trend. He stated, on a podcast with Sky Sports F1, “I’m slightly concerned that Oscar Piastri’s following in the trend of Australian drivers making career choices that could come back to bite them.”

The Indian also provided several examples of how the Australians made the incorrect team selections at the wrong times, Chandhok continued by saying, “Alan Jones going to Beatrice Haas, Mark Webber choosing Williams over Renault in 2005 as he watched (Fernando) Alonso romp to the title when he had the option to go there.” However, what caught the fans’ attention was the analysts’ comments while mentioning Daniel Ricciardo‘s Mclaren journey,” obviously the recently well-documented saga of Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles.” 

READ MORE: Brown Hates Australians”: Oscar Piastri’s F1 Debut Wrecked by McLaren’s Error as Bahrain GP Becomes a Disaster

Although experts may have foreseen that Piastri would succumb to Ricciardo’s suffering, the 21-year-old believes that he won’t have the same hardships as Ricciardo.

Oscar Piastri claims that he’d not struggle the same way as Daniel Ricciardo

The rookie driver has experience racing and winning championships at junior levels. Piastri was chosen by the team to take Ricciardo’s spot when the Honey Badger and the Woking-based squad mutually agreed to part ways. At the MCL 60 car unveiling, the 22-year-old driver was questioned about how he will manage to fit in the Woking-based squad when an eight-time Grand Prix winner and an experienced driver like Ricciardo had struggled to survive in the team before him.

The 21-year-old quickly pointed toward his single-seater journey and also hinted at adaptability being one of his biggest strengths. He said, “I think, firstly, it’s obviously a shame that things didn’t work out between the team and Daniel, but I think for me personally, I’m not concerned about a lack of experience.”

He added, “ I think through my junior career, I’ve had to change car every single year  I’ve never driven the same car for more than a year. I think adaptation is a big strength that you need in the junior categories, and I think that’s been prominent in mine.”

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The McLaren team’s season may not have started so well. The team, however, will work hard to provide both of their young guns with the vehicle needed to compete against the top three teams. Having said that, do you anticipate things will start to improve, following the little tweaks for the working base?