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Mark Webber claims Oscar Piastri hesitated to replace Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Aditya Pandya | Last updated 12/23/23

Rookie Oscar Piastri replaced the experienced Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren at the beginning of the 2023 season. However, this decision was seen as a bold move by the Woking-based team. Moreover, high expectations were laid on the former F2 champion. Former Red Bull driver and Piastri’s manager Mark Webber revealed how the 22-year-old found it difficult to make this move.

Webber recalled the difficult Ricciardo’s difficult stint at McLaren where the 34-year-old failed to perform at his best. However, the 8-time race winner was the only driver to secure a win for the Woking in the past decade. The former Red Bull driver highlighted that another driver would have eventually replaced Daniel Ricciardo in McLaren if it wasn’t for Piastri joining the team for his rookie season.

It’s clear that Daniel had two very tough seasons as a McLaren driver, If Oscar hadn’t replaced him this year, another driver would have done it. Webber told GP racing magazine.

Oscar Piastri, being an Australian as well, was hesitant at first to replace the much-experienced Ricciardo. Considering that Formula 1 has only seen a handle of drivers coming from ‘Down Under.’ According to Webber, a decision had to be made regardless to replace the driver, and the replacement for the 34-year-old was a great one, as depicted by the rookie’s phenomenal performance this season.

He said at the time that he was taking the seat from another Australian and there aren’t many of us who have raced in Formula 1. But what can you say, it was McLaren’s decision and in the end, it’s clear that it was the right one.

McLaren did not have a lot of options to replace Daniel Ricciardo

In addition to this, Webber also highlighted the scarcity of drivers for replacing Ricciardo in the Woking. There weren’t many options available, and luckily the team appealed to Oscar Piastri. Piastri loved the fact that the team was fantastic overall and clear in its intentions from the beginning, this favored the Aussie to shift from Alpine to McLaren.

The decision to undertake Piastri was very simple and easy to finalize. Part of the credit for this could be attributed to the 22-year-old’s meteoric rise in his junior days of racing and McLaren’s desire to present an opportunity to a young driver. Therefore, the decision to sign Oscar Piastri proved to bring a lot of benefits to Woking.

Hence, the 22-year-old has been locked with McLaren at least until the end of the 2026 season. This time would provide Piastri with an amazing working environment and an opportunity to showcase his racing skills. Certainly, this would help the former F2 champion to succeed at the pinnacle of motorsport in the coming years.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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