What will we remember from Daniel Ricciardo’s time in F1? His dive bombs of course, his ultra-late braking, his legendary smile but also his absolute class, in all circumstances and in all contexts. A leading figure in Australian motorsport over the last two decades, the Perth native recently saw the young Oscar Piastri arrive like a meteor, winner of all the main championships in which he participated in single-seaters with the exception of Formula 4, when he was starting to take the downward slope.
The story between these two is also directly linked. Since it is to install Oscar Piastri alongside Lando Norris in 2023 that McLaren chose to write a check to Daniel Ricciardo at the end of 2022, so that he clears the floor. The destiny of the two Aussies met again in 2023, when the Honey Badger returned to F1 with AlphaTauri, since it was while trying to avoid his compatriot that Daniel hit the wall at Zandvoort and was thus fractured his wrist, leading him to miss five races and thus limiting his chances of convincing Red Bull to return him to the A team.
Despite these unfortunate indirect clashes between the two men, mutual respect and admiration has always been essential. At the time of the Singapore Grand Prix, as is sometimes the case between drivers, Piastri and Ricciardo swapped helmets. The future retiree, who already knew his fate, took the time to dedicate his helmet by adding a few very sympathetic words to the Australian next generation. “Oscar, keep flying the flag like you do. Here’s to many more victories! Daniel.”
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