Oscar Piastri says there is no added pressure on his shoulders from down under after Daniel Ricciardo’s exit left him as Australia’s only driver left on the Formula 1 grid.
Speaking to The Roar in the paddock ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Piastri said while it was sad for Ricciardo not be on the grid any more, he doesn’t feel any extra heat as the only Aussie remaining in the sport.
“I wouldn’t say too much extra pressure,” he said. “Of course it’s sad that Daniel’s not still on the grid. He was an amazing guy and someone that I looked up to watching F1 so it is sad to see him go.
“Unfortunately, for better or worse, that’s the nature of the sport. I’ve got someone from next door to Australia to replace him, but it’s always nice when you’ve got fellow countrymen on the grid.”
(Photo by Getty Images)
Tributes continued to flow in for the popular Australian, with honorary Aussie Valtteri Bottas telling The Roar he had enjoyed many battles with Ricciardo over the years, and particularly enjoyed their Championship fight in Formula Renault in 2008.
“It’s sad to see Danny not here as he was a good character and I really respect his career and what he was able to achieve,” Bottas said. “For sure, I’ll be catching up with him somewhere.”
The man who replaced Ricciardo at Team RB, Liam Lawson, says he had a huge amount of respect for Ricciardo and that he had received some strong advice from him at the last race in Singapore.
“When I left at the end of the weekend and spoke to him he said good luck with everything, you get one shot at F1 and wished me well,” Lawson said.
“He’s been somebody that’s never made it feel like competition.
“We spoke every weekend. I spent a lot of time with him over the weekends as well going through stuff.
“He’s always been open with advice and through all of the events that happened leading up to Singapore and through Singapore, he made it very clear that there was nothing against me directly.
“I have a huge amount of respect for him.”
Lawson will continue with RB for the final six races of the season, with those races being seen as an audition for the highly rated New Zealander to retain the seat in 2025 alongside Yuki Tsunoda.
The final races are also potentially being used as a shootout for a seat at the senior Red Bull team in 2025, should either Laweson or Tsunoda perform better than the struggling Sergio Perez.
Piastri said that he is excited to see Lawson have an opportunity once again in the sport.
“It gives Liam a great opportunity to show what he’s capable of again in F1,” he said.
“He’s been a strong competitor when we were in junior racing together, so we’ll see what he’s capable of.”
This article was originally written for The Roar. You can read the published version here
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