Zak Brown and Co’s recent gamble to a Red Bull-esque design philosophy for the upgraded MCL-60 is paying off. However, that’s not the gamble we’re going to talk about today. It’s the $18,000,000 gamble that’s paying off as Zak Brown’s decision to boot Daniel Ricciardo is justified. What is this gamble and how is it justified?

Oscar Piastri’s performances this season have been nothing short of wonderful considering that he’s a rookie. The Australian is very close to Lando Norris’ pace. While it wasn’t that visible when McLaren was struggling at the back end of the field, Piastri is now showing why Alpine really wanted him and that McLaren made the right decision. Piastri came really close to the podium at the British and the Hungarian GP but was undone by the safety car and floor damage respectively.

Daniel Ricciardo on the other hand struggled at McLaren during both his years with the team. Zak Brown’s decision to end Daniel Ricciardo’s contract a year earlier and sign Oscar Piastri seems to be paying off. Daniel Ricciardo was paid $18 Million to end the contract early. BBC’s F1: Chequered Flag podcast suggests the same after Oscar Piastri out-qualified Lando Norris at the Belgium GP.

According to the podcast, BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson said, “Very impressive performance from Piastri in the second McLaren who is justifying their decision to get rid of Daniel Ricciardo last year and bring him in. He’s coming on quite impressively as the season develops.”

Daniel Ricciardo on the other hand is doing well at AlphaTauri. However, the Belgium GP qualifying didn’t go his way. Let’s see how it panned out for the Honey Badger.

Read More: Unashamedly Shrugging off McLaren’s Ban, Nico Rosberg Plots Sneaky Plan to Bring Down Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri

Daniel Ricciardo eliminated in Q1 of the Belgium GP

The start of the qualifying at Spa Francorchamps was wet. However, the rain wasn’t coming down anymore and it was just the water from the rain that had happened earlier. The track was improving every second as the cars started to form a drier line. Daniel Ricciardo would’ve made it Q2 on his final lap in Q1. But unfortunately, he went over the track limits, and the time got deleted.

According to Foxsports.com.au, Daniel Ricciardo during the post-race interview said “I knew I basically tried to Eau Rouge flat. I thought it was possible and I just felt I was drifting off the good line and I had to lift to just stay on track and it was just drifting, drifting. As soon as I got over that turn four kerb where they said I did track limits, I knew it was probably over. Obviously, I tried to put it behind me and keep going on with the lap… but in the end, it’s frustrating when you did a track limits and lose time.”

What do you think about Oscar Piastri? Is he a better driver than Daniel Ricciardo?

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