After joining McLaren from Alpine, Oscar Piastri will make his debut alongside Lando Norris this season; McLaren boss Zak Brown says he would “love to go racing” with Daniel Ricciardo again despite his struggles in Formula 1, but admits he is enthused by the team’s 2023 lineup and the “special” Oscar Piastri. Brown also says he would “love to go racing” with Daniel Ricciardo again despite his struggles in Formula 1.
Ricciardo, an eight-time race winner who was outclassed and outperformed by young teammate Lando Norris, is back at Red Bull as a third driver after failing to find a suitable F1 seat elsewhere.
In August, McLaren announced that they would be terminating Ricciardo’s three-year contract a season early.
Brown, McLaren’s chief executive officer, gave a lengthy interview on McLaren’s YouTube in which he described Ricciardo’s McLaren failure as a “great mystery” but did not rule out the possibility of the Australian making a return in the future.
Brown said, “He’s got the talent.” In Monza, he demonstrated that, and he has won eight Grand Prix.
It frustrates everyone of us. I sincerely hope that he returns to Formula One, as he has desired, and the possibility of him driving a McLaren in the future remains open.
“I would love to go racing with him again if the stars align.”
Having said that, Brown is overjoyed about the driver pairing for this year.
Brown stated that the 23-year-old Englishman “doesn’t get enough credit” for his performances, noting that Norris will remain with the team for a fourth season. Piastri, Ricciardo’s countryman and one of the most highly regarded rookies in F1 history, will join him after a transfer saga with Alpine.
Brown stated, “We think Oscar is going to be a sensational racing driver.” When you look at his career up to this point, you can see that he won many championships in his first year, which always indicates that a driver is special.
He has a great mental approach to the sport, and now that Lando has a lot of experience, we feel like we have a great combination of youth and experience—our experience just happens to have youth.
“At the moment, I don’t see that happening. However, I don’t have children, so I can talk easily. When the time comes, maybe I’ll think very differently. However, his passion went very far. He took care of everything. preparing karts and tuning engines. I can’t imagine doing that.
“They must desire it for themselves. And if you continue to pursue it with your child or children, I believe you will no longer be able to drive in Formula 1. When you are four years old, you must begin laying the groundwork. I would like to attend myself.
The Dutch driver went on to say that in rally racing, he still supports his father. He went on:
“I always warn him to be careful. That is always what he tells me. Look, regardless of the risks involved, he always wants to succeed. I say: It no longer serves any purpose. It is not necessary to win. You can also simply have fun if you occasionally take 1% less risk. There are a lot of accidents at the rally.
Every year, at least one car is written off. Although the races he drives are a little safer than some of the races in the world championship, I still enjoy watching him. Are you, too? a tiny bit.”
Verstappen has talked a lot about his childhood, and many people have called Jos “harsh” for the way he raised Max. But Max has always said that his father “needed it” to defend himself. Verstappen has reflected on this in a recent interview with a Dutch newspaper called De Limburger. He elaborated: