'Not 100% Sure Ricciardo Couldn't Do Same Job As Piastri': Kravitz On McLaren's Driver Change

British F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz recently mentioned he would like to see AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo in the seat of the 2023 McLaren car.

After a pretty successful season in Renault, Ricciardo joined the McLaren F1 team before the 2021 season. The Australian showcased his talent in the past, mainly driving for both Red Bull by winning multiple Grand Prix races, so the expectations were high.

Honey Badger then had mixed results during the 2021 season. On one hand, he was outperformed by his younger teammate, Lando Norris, throughout most of the races.

On the other hand, Ricciardo managed to score the first McLaren win in 10 years during the Italian Grand Prix after a race packed with action at Monza International Circuit.

The Australian finished the 2021 season 45 points behind his teammate. The season 2022 did not go better for the number 3 driver. Ricciardo finished in points only seven times.

In comparison, his teammate Norris was able to finish in points during 17 races and scored a podium during an Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in the same machinery.

Everybody in the paddock was in great shock. It was expected that Ricciardo would lift the McLaren up with his performances, and the opposite ended up being true.

McLaren made a tough decision when the team ended the contract with the Australian driver before the season 2023 (a year earlier than it was due) and paid him out $21 million.

The team replaced Ricciardo with another Australian driver - Oscar Piastri, who has exceeded expectations almost immediately. Piastri has been an equal match to Norris in most of the races of the season 2023 and managed to win a sprint during the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.

F1 experts now praise McLaren for being brave enough to separate from Ricciardo even at a cost as high as it was because Piastri seems to be a perfect substitute.

McLaren upgraded the car to a very competitive level throughout the 2023 season, and its driver duo achieved seven podiums up until the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. Ted Kravitz, however, would like to give a chance to the Honey Badger in the new McLaren, as he said during Sky Sports F1 Podcast.

While we will never find out if Ricciardo will be able to replicate Piastri's result in McLaren, we will see him back in the seat of his AlphaTauri again for the United States Grand Prix after his injury at Zandvoort.