Oscar Piastri includes Daniel Ricciardo in his all-time top four Formula 1 drivers

Oscar Piastri has included fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo among his four favourite Formula 1 drivers of all time, alongside two names he never competed against.

The McLaren driver entered the series in 2023, stepping into the seat previously held by Ricciardo. Meanwhile, Ricciardo returned to the grid midway through that season, taking over from Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri.

The pair spent only 25 races together on the F1 grid before Racing Bulls replaced Ricciardo with Liam Lawson. Looking back, Ricciardo has said he’s “grateful” for how things ended, as it spared him from having to make the retirement call himself.

By the time Ricciardo left F1 in 2024, he had eight Grand Prix wins under his belt. Across his career from 2011 to 2024, he picked up three pole positions and made it onto the podium 32 times in what was an impressive career.

Oscar Piastri picks Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso among his favourite F1 drivers

Piastri “always” enjoyed watching Ricciardo in Formula 1 before he made it onto the grid in 2023 at his compatriot’s expense. Red Bull sealed Ricciardo his F1 debut at HRT in the 2011 British Grand Prix, before he went on to race for Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Renault and McLaren.

Piastri has also named Ayrton Senna, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen among his favourite drivers of all time. Of the three drivers, Piastri has only shared the grid with Alonso, who Alpine had wanted Piastri to replace for the 2023 season.

Piastri told McLaren’s official site: “First one, Ayrton Senna, that’s self-explanatory. Danny Ric, I always liked watching him before I entered the sport. Fernando was very exciting to watch. And I’ll go with Kimi Raikkonen.”

Alpine initially announced that Piastri would replace Alonso in 2023 following the Spaniard’s decision to sign with Aston Martin ahead of Sebastian Vettel retiring. But Piastri had already signed for McLaren, after McLaren agreed to pay Ricciardo up to £23.5m to end his contract.