Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is preparing for life on the Formula 1 grid as the only Australian representative.
Jack Doohan couldn’t find a way back into F1 after losing his Alpine seat six races into the 2025 campaign, meaning Oscar Piastri will be the only hometown hero cheered on during the opening race in Melbourne.
McLaren did everything they could to snatch Piastri from Alpine ahead of the 2023 season.
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A mistake in Piastri’s Alpine contract allowed McLaren to swoop in, and that meant Andrea Stella and Zak Brown had a decision to make on their driver line-up.
Lando Norris represented the future, and as part of McLaren’s junior team set-up, the Woking-based manufacturer had invested so much time and energy in him that his seat was always going to be safe.
That meant Daniel Ricciardo had to make way for Piastri, and although he briefly returned with Racing Bulls, his F1 career never really recovered.
Now, F1 expert Peter Windsor has explained why McLaren’s decision to replace Ricciardo with Piastri was a ‘ludicrous’ idea.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
McLaren told replacing Daniel Ricciardo with Oscar Piastri was ‘ludicrous’
Windsor was asked on his YouTube channel how good Daniel Ricciardo was in his prime, with the question mentioning how good he was at overtaking and overlooking how talented he was.
He said: “You’re just basically underlying everything I’ve always said, which was that he has got that great quality.
“He can see a gap two or three cars ahead and make it work. He’s experienced. He’s got the right temperament. He’s a lovely guy. He drives well. He’s got very supple inputs.
Will Piastri have a better career than any driver on this list?
“Not that short a corner, but shorter than Carlos Sainz and just a good guy to have, for any team to have.
“And for McLaren to fire him and replace him with Oscar, I think, was ludicrous because I think they still would have won the championship with Lando. Lando would always have been quicker ultimately.
“They would have won the championship in a far more harmonious way, and they didn’t need Oscar. They just needed to go ahead and do the job.
“They had the team, and Oscar was quicker than Daniel. No doubt about that. But if you had Oscar in the team, Daniel would have been very good alongside him.
“Why create those situations when it’s so simple to keep it as it is? As you say, he was a perfect complement for Lando Norris.”
READ MORE: Daniel Ricciardo’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
Why Oscar Piastri was worried about replacing Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren
Ricciardo is a racing icon in Australia, and when he left McLaren, only Mark Webber and world champions Jack Brabham and Alan Jones had won more races than he had.
Piastri’s win at the Dutch Grand Prix last year saw him leapfrog Ricciardo in those rankings, and he’s well on his way to becoming Australia’s most successful F1 driver.
However, the 24-year-old immediately understood that he was putting himself in a high-pressure situation by replacing the former Red Bull star.
Piastri’s mum described the realisation he made after taking Ricciardo’s seat, but he’s quickly grown his own fanbase with his brilliant performance and dry sense of humour.
Windsor’s suggestion that McLaren’s signing of Piastri was a ‘ludicrous’ decision does have some merit, as it would have avoided some of the difficult decisions the team needed to make towards the end of the season.
However, Brown and Stella are unlikely to be upset that they think they might have secured the services of two potential world champions.
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