Oscar Piastri Reveals Why McLaren Made Lewis Hamilton-Like Move to Replace Daniel Ricciardo

In 2021, McLaren went with the tried and tested approach with one experienced and one young driver in their lineup. However, with the experienced driver Daniel Ricciardo failing to fire, the plan did not work out. Now the Honey Badger’s replacement Oscar Piastri explains the thought behind McLaren opting to have both young drivers in their lineup while making a Lewis Hamilton comparison.

Daniel Ricciardo was under a contract with McLaren for 3 years. However, the two decided to part ways after the Australian failed to impress for two seasons straight. Now the Woking-based team has decided to bring in Oscar Piastri, who thinks the move could very well pay off.

Oscar Piastri backs McLaren with an ambitious Lewis Hamilton comparison

Daniel Ricciardo’s replacement Oscar Piastri recently appeared on the PitStop podcast. The Australian driver got candid about his interests and hobbies away from racing in the interview. He was asked what he thought about McLaren going with two young drivers, as it could be a recipe either for success or disaster.

Oscar agreed it could go either way. “Yeah, agreed. I think for me that’s been a massive draw card of McLaren was they really really wanted me. They wanted to invest in youth. They’ve shown that through their previous years with people like Lando, like Lewis.”

“So, I think it’s sort of been in the team’s spirit and mentality. I think it’s nice to have two young guys in there that can hopefully build the future and move forward with McLaren.”

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He continued, “Obviously, Lando’s got quite a bit of experience under his belt. So whilst we’re similar in age, our experience levels are actually going to be pretty different. But yeah, I think it’s an exciting prospect moving forward.”

Lando Norris ready to take the leadership role at McLaren

Before the Japanese GP, Lando Norris went out for a fun outing with F1 presenter Ted Kravitz. The two did some wall climbing and played indoor golf before sitting down for an interview.

In the interview, Lando showed his readiness to be the leader next year when Oscar Piastri fills the cockpit left by Daniel Ricciardo.

“I guess you have a guy with more experience which will be me and I can refer more back to points of previous seasons and I’ll be able to refer to this year’s car and that’s something Oscar won’t be able to do so there’s a lot of things because of my experience that I’ll be able to use and help the team more in some ways.”

“But as a different driver there’s a lot of things Oscar can also bring to the team.”

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For now, the current McLaren duo needs to focus on closing the gap between them and Alpine to retain the 4th position in the constructors’ standings from last year. With three more races to go, the gap between the two teams is as close as 11 points. For McLaren to pose any threat, Daniel Ricciardo will have to regain his form and contribute to the points tally sooner rather than later.