McLaren would rather forget the 2022 Formula 1 season and Daniel Ricciardo’s downward spiral during his tenure at McLaren. But they’re confident that newly signed Oscar Piastri will evade the same rabbit hole that the ‘Honey Badger’ fell through.
Immense Faith Instilled In Oscar Piastri
Piastri is not really a ‘stranger’ to the Formula 1 world. Before joining McLaren, he was the reserve driver for Alpine. As Alpine’s reserve driver, Piastri took part in a lot of simulator work and car test runs.
The rookie will probably be compared to his McLaren team-mate, Lando Norris, who has been nicknamed ‘the best of the rest’ with his consistent yet, impressive performances. McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella exclaimed his and McLaren’s confidence in Piastri in an interview to GPFans.
Stella stated, “So the journey we want to take with Oscar is also an independent journey. He’s certainly very talented, and we want him to use his references. References from the car, references from even what we learned with Daniel, and so on.”
The recently promoted Stella has faith in Piastri’s talent and is keen to integrate the references from the 21-year-old. He expects Piastri to bring a lot to the table and additionally, learn from Norris and the pre-existing reference points. “We are quite adamant that he will have enough talent, process, and intelligence to find his own way, taking advantage of these references,” Stella further added.
Piastri is expected to assimilate into the team dynamic over the course of the season and not expected to out-perform Norris at the very outset. McLaren too, is content on letting go of experience in the shape of Ricciardo to make way for the young prospect. Piastri will be given time to settle in to ease the pressure on the former F2 Champion. Additionally, Team Principal Stella doesn’t expect the 2024 McLaren car to compete at the forefront of the grid. Also Read: Guenther Steiner Turns A Deaf Ear To ‘Copying’ Accusations
A Steep Fall From Cloud Nine for Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo is the only McLaren driver in the past decade to win a Formula 1 race. With that infamous Monza win, the Aussie became an eight-time race winner. But barring that one glorious Sunday at Monza, Ricciardo’s time at McLaren was quite gloomy. The experienced driver never really felt at one with the McLaren car and would be convincingly out-performed by Lando Norris. A string of poor performances additionally affected Ricciardo’s confidence.
McLaren eventually took the bold call to terminate Ricciardo’s contract. Then the team found itself in a soap-opera like drama with Alpine over signing the ever-so impressive prospect, Oscar Piastri.
After the exit of Fernando Alonso, Alpine had gone to the extent of announcing Piastri as its second driver for 2024, alongside Esteban Ocon. But Piastri set social media ablaze after publicly refuting any agreement between Alpine and him. He clarified that he would not be driving for Alpine.
Oscar Piastri and McLaren agreed upon a two-year contract. Also Read: Lewis Hamilton Set To Be Offered New Mercedes Contract
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