Lando Norris Crushes Daniel Ricciardo’s Huge Reputation to Bits While Giving Oscar Piastri a Compliment to Die For

Character is like a tree, and reputation is its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. Lando Norris’ recent compliment for Oscar Piastri was a two-edged sword. The 25-year-old not only complimented his teammate but also took a jab at his ex-teammate at the same time. What was this compliment to die for and how did crush Daniel Ricciardo’s reputation?

Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo’s relationship during the McLaren days was not what we were promised, and the bromance between the two never flourished. Daniel Ricciardo underperformed at McLaren and as a result, left the team a year before his contract ended. The Australian was known as championship-winning material, but his days at Mclaren dented his image. The honey badger has taken a year off F1 racing and is traveling the world and rejuvenating himself to make a comeback next year.

Lando Norris recently praised his rookie teammate after the race in Australia. However, the Briton might’ve dented Ricciardo’s reputation even further during this process. The McLaren driver explained how good of a job Oscar Piastri is doing alongside him and how the rookie is able to manage the pressure very well. Norris further praised Piastri’s calm and controlled personality while still being fast when required. The 25-year-old ended up suggesting that Piastri is pushing him more than he felt in recent years.

According to motorsport.nextgen-auto.com, Lando Norris during an interview with Channel 4 said “He does a very good job, honestly. It makes me weird to talk as if I were the oldest, the most experienced! But he does a very good job, he handles the pressure very well, I would say, I think it’s something very strong that I saw at home.”

“He is calm, he is controlled and he is fast, so I have the impression that he has a lot of things we need. And it pushes me more than I have had in recent years, which is a good thing for us as a team too.”

Also Read: With Just 3 Races in F1, Oscar Piastri Echoes Daniel Ricciardo’s Unfulfilled Adventurous Dream: “Maybe After My F1 Career..”

While Lando Norris might’ve taken a jab at his ex-teammate, Daniel Ricciardo will be the one laughing right now as he avoided driving the monstrosity named MCL60 and got a big fat check for that. McLaren did show some potential in Australia. However, they scored points only because of the Mayhem during the final laps. Norris shared his strategy during the post-race interviews, which helped him score points.

Lando Norris articulates his approach at the Australian GP

The foremost priority on restarts is to save yourself from being taken out and then try to make up places. However, since it was only a two-lap shootout at the very end of the Australian GP, everyone went ahead and tried making positions, not realizing the tires were cold, locking up and causing demolition. Lando Norris explains how he realized the tires were not up to temperature and tried avoiding anyone who tried to make a move.

According to GPblog.com, Lando Norris during the post-race interview with Sky Sports said, “It’s such a slow lap at the restart you can’t get the tires in. It was obvious with the tires cold into turn 1, you are going to lock fronts and when you are racing you want to brake later than others then you make mistakes.”

“For the majority of the race, the pace was strong, and I had good starts and stayed away from damage. Half the job seems to be avoiding people who are a bit out of control making mistakes and crashing into people. Not the easiest.”

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What do you make of Lando Norris’ comments on Oscar Piastri and taking a jab at Ricciardo?