Brabham: 'I'm not 100% sure on Daniel Ricciardo's return'

Three times Sir Jack Brabham became world champion in Formula 1, so the Australian is rightfully one of the greatest drivers ever. Only Alan Jones has since managed to capture the championship trophy as an Aussie. Oscar Piastri - debuting at McLaren this season - is Australia's hope to become the third champion. "I don't see why he couldn't," David Brabham says.

At McLaren, Piastri is the successor to compatriot Daniel Ricciardo. The latter had long seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of Brabham and Jones. After all, Ricciardo had it all: pure speed, the convincing overtaking manoeuvres, and he also drove for a top team (Red Bull Racing). The early expectations did not become reality, and after not so successful stints at Renault and McLaren, the world title seems forever out of reach for the man from Perth. Ricciardo is currently a reserve driver at Red Bull and it is uncertain whether he will ever return to the grid.

Quickly forgotten

David Brabham, son of the legendary Sir Jack Brabham and a former F1 driver himself, knows Ricciardo and especially his parents. "I think I'm as surprised as anyone to see Daniel struggle as much as he did, and I'm sure no more than himself being a little bit baffled by it. Does he have the opportunity to come back in? As soon as you're out of that environment, you get forgotten pretty quickly," Brabham said in an interview with GPblog.

"Now, obviously he's still part of the Red Bull program now and he'll be working on the simulator and doing things in the background, he may get an opportunity to race this year if obviously something happens to one of the other drivers as a backup, as a third driver. Yeah, I'm not 100% sure on Daniel's return. I hope he does, but I'm sitting here going, it might be quite difficult for him to get back in because people need to have the trust in him that he's back on form. And how does he do that if he's not in the car?"

Inspiration seems lost

For Brabham - like everyone else - it is anyone's guess as to why Ricciardo failed to reach his Red Bull level in recent years. "I know within myself and what I've learned in my racing when it comes to the mind and your goals and what you're trying to achieve and, you know, when the mojo kind of sort of goes out a bit, you kind of felt Daniel was distracted at his time at McLaren. There was something taking his mind away from doing the high-level job that he's been doing to that time, because he's a great racer."

"And he can do it as good as anyone on his day, but he wasn't doing it on his day with McLaren, like everyone expected, including himself. You've now got Oscar coming in, pretty much replacing him in some way at McLaren as an Aussie, and he's obviously at the beginning of his journey in Formula One, full of enthusiasm off the back of a fantastic junior career, which is as good as anyone's ever seen. Fascinating to see how he gets on against Lando (Norris)."

The ultimate professional

According to Brabham, a learning year awaits Piastri in 2023. "He's a very levelheaded kind of guy. Kind of reminds me of myself, when I was younger actually, because he doesn't show a lot of emotion. He just gets in the car and just does the job and that's what you want, you know, ultimate professional. He's obviously got Mark Webber behind him managing him. So, you couldn't ask for a better a team of people around him to get the best out of him and protect him as well in that environment. So I'm super excited to see how it gets on."

Possibly, Piastri will become an Australian world champion for the first time since 1980. "If you look at what he's achieved to date. Given the right circumstances, I don't see why he couldn't. The proof will be in the pudding of how he adapts to Formula One really. He's in a good team environment from what you can see from the outside. A lot will come down to how competitive the car is and how they can develop it throughout the year. That's not going to be down to him, it'll be down to the team around him, to give him the equipment. But I think if anyone's coming through the junior ranks who show the potential to be a world champion, he definitely does."

Brabham senior incomparable

Either way, Piastri is no Sir Jack Brabham. Just as there is no one on the grid comparable to his father, David Brabham believes. "Because they wouldn't pick up a spanner to work on the car. Well, Vettel was, but you know he's not going to have the responsibility that my father had. Different era, different days and different type of driver. He was a different type of driver to the regular guys out there, like the Jim Clarks and the Graham Hills."

"There weren't many big manufacturers of race cars like Brabham I think. You know, in the sixties they were the biggest racing car manufacturer in the world and so there were some big responsibilities. Dad was involved in the test and development and the design with Ron Tauranac. The two of them were a great team, and dad did a lot of the handiwork as well. There's not that type of driver in Formula One anymore. It's all so super specialized, and you have departments looking after the gearbox. You have departments, looking after the aero, you have departments over here and there. They're all specialists."

Always among the top performers

His technical knowledge gave Jack Brabham an edge over the competition. "He knew when to nurse the car, because he could probably tell immediately what the problem was and how he had to manage that. He won three world titles and you know, you see all these stats coming out all the time where they want to compare everyone and Jack's there a lot in the top of something."

Formula 1 then and now are incomparable, believes Brabham junior. "I love the 60s cars," says the three-time Le Mans winner. "I think they're beautiful, very simple. It was super dangerous. I'm lucky to be alive talking to you, because I was born in 65, when dad was still racing. In a dangerous time, when he may not have survived for me to be born. So I feel slightly blessed in that. Yeah, that I'm here."

"He was a very smart, calculating driver, that knew when to push. But he knew when not to push as well, which, I think, saved his life on quite a few occasions."