Piastri saw respect for Ricciardo only increase further

Oscar Piastri will take Daniel Ricciardo's place at McLaren next season. The talented driver tells Formula1.com that he hesitated for a long time whether to call his compatriot, but that Ricciardo eventually did so himself.

For Ricciardo, it was a hard blow when he was told that McLaren wanted to terminate his ongoing contract. Lando Norris' s teammate had hoped to continue driving in Formula 1 next calendar year, but his imminent departure means that is uncertain for now.

When Piastri signed his contract at McLaren, he thought it would be wise to call Ricciardo to show his respect. However, the driver hesitated about that decision for a long time, before he suddenly found Ricciardo on the line after all.

"I was planning on getting in touch myself, but I think with the timing of things, he was obviously at a race," Piastri stated. "Quite frankly, I didn’t actually know if he wanted to hear from me. I was trying to think of what to say, but he beat me to it."

It only made his image of Ricciardo clearer. "A true professional, Daniel is. My respect for him was already extremely high and it’s only gotten higher in the way he’s responded."