ZANDVOORT, Netherlands – Daniel Ricciardo called fellow Australian Oscar Piastri, who is replacing him at McLaren next season, to tell him there are no hard feelings about how things have played out this year.
After a protracted legal tug of war between Alpine and McLaren, this week it was confirmed Piastri will join the team in 2023.
Last month Ricciardo and McLaren reached a settlement to bring his three-year deal to a conclusion one year early.
Ricciardo said he did not want Piastri to feel guilty about the situation.
“I’ve spoken to Oscar and just made sure that there’s no bad feelings there,” Ricciardo said after Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix.
“I understand how this works. He’s trying to make it, he’s trying to get into Formula One. This moment should be really big for him.
“I don’t want to make it a bad situation for him, and that’s that. It’s nothing personal. So that’s all the conversation was. I truly do wish him well. I want him to have a good run in Formula One.”
He added: “Obviously he’s a lot younger than me, so I don’t know maybe how he feels, if he’s nervous to reach out and see how I’m doing. Also I wanted to make sure that it was clear that I understand his position and absolutely no hard feelings. So yeah, that was good.
“I think it made him feel better, and I think the last thing he wanted was to have some weird tension between a few of the only Australians that have ever been in this sport, so I’m glad that we’ve done that.”
The other Australian driver from F1’s recent history, Mark Webber, is also linked to the story, as he is Piastri’s manager.
Webber came to speak to Ricciardo, who replaced him at Red Bull in 2014, ahead of Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix.
“I feel he didn’t need to, but he felt like he wanted to in a way apologise and try to just see how I’m doing,” Ricciardo said. “I know how this sport is. It’s nothing personal to me, and he wanted to make sure that I knew that and understood that and just to make sure that I felt okay.
“He feels really bad obviously how it’s gone down and obviously how things are put out there in the media and that. It was nice to speak to him.”
Ricciardo’s next move is still unclear. Alpine looks likely to sign AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly for next season, leaving his choice between Haas and Williams.
Ahead of this weekend’s race Ricciardo said he is open to the idea of a year out of F1.
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