Australia has a new face of F1, with rookie driver Oscar Piastri starting the season as the only Australian on the grid.
For the first time since 2011, Australian F1 fans enter the season with a new star to watch. Before the beginning of the 2023 F1 season fan favourite, Daniel Ricciardo had opted to take a year away from the sport to rediscover his love for racing. Due to his absence, Aussie fans were searching for a new hero to watch week in week out. Enter Oscar Piastri.
Piastri was announced as Daniel Ricciardo’s direct replacement at McLaren prior to the end of the 2022 season. Entering his debut season Piastri was already familiar with the circus that is Formula One, having spent the 2022 season as a reserve driver for Alpine. However, Piastri was in for a rude awakening when he failed to finish in his debut race in Bahrain.
Despite a rocky start for the 22-year-old, he soon showcased all his skill by helping McLaren fight their way back to P4 in the Constructors Championship. Oscar Piastri became the first rookie since Sir Lewis Hamilton to win a race in their first full season (Piastri won the sprint race in Qatar) as well as becoming the first rookie since 2007 to finish on the podium multiple times in the season.
Piastri eventually ended the year on 97 points and claimed 9th place in the drivers’ standings. Piastri’s mixture of race craft and raw talent held him in good stead in 2023, and being behind the wheel of the McLaren until at least 2026, Piastri is sure to be a favourite to climb up the ranks as long as the car continues to improve with him.
He might’ve started the year as the only Australian on the grid, but that would not last the entire season. The Icon Daniel Ricciardo would return to the Formula One grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix as rookie Dutchman Nick De Vries was dropped from his drive with AlphaTauri.
Ricciardo originally returned to the grid with a contract for the rest of the season however he would soon sign on for 2024 as well. While Ricciardo didn’t set the world on fire in his return, he did have flashes of his old self. An injury to his wrist at the Dutch Grand Prix put a dampener on his return as he was unable to compete in a number of races, but Ricciardo’s return to the grid put a smile on his and the rest of the F1 world’s faces.
A happy Daniel Ricciardo makes the world and the F1 paddock a happier place and everyone from casual fans to avid enthusiasts are excited for the prospect of having two Australians on the grid for an entire season in 2024.
Ricciardo will start the 2024 season back in the AlphaTauri, however rumours of a Red Bull return will not go away, so who knows where he will end up. After all, Red Bull are known for making significant driver changes mid-season if everything isn’t going to plan. Regardless of what team he races for, Ricciardo will definitely be looking to show that he still has what it takes to compete at the top level of Motorsport.
Along with the rookie sensation and the return of the honey badger, it would be remiss to not spend some time also discussing Jack Doohan, who set the world alight in his Formula Two campaign in 2023. While he did not claim the title, he did win a number of races including the last race of the year (and the last race of his F2 career).
Doohan is currently signed up as an Alpine reserve driver much like Oscar Piastri was prior to his debut in F1. The future is unclear for Doohan, due to the entire F1 grid being full for 2024. But one thing is for sure: the future is bright for him. It is a tantalising prospect that if all the cards fall in the right place there could be three Australians lining up on the Formula One grid in the near future. Doohan is truly an unknow prospect, but it is a definite ‘watch this space’ with his next move.
Formula One has grown tremendously in the last two seasons and the rise of young rookie sensations is only going to increase the popularity. For Australian fans, the 2024 F1 season will be one to watch, with Piastri looking to continue form where he left off and Ricciardo looking to return to his best. The 2024 season could truly be a special year. We are less than 90 days from Summer testing and from one F1 fan to others, I truly cannot wait to see what our Aussie drivers could produce for the Green and Gold in 2024.
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