Ricciardo jokes about fellow Aussie Piastri's success: 'Owes it to me!'
Oscar Piastri has had a great start to the current Formula 1 campaign. The Australian driver leads the championship after five rounds, something that didn't go unnoticed by Daniel Ricciardo either.
Daniel Ricciardo, who was replaced by Liam Lawson at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, and points out what happened that weekend changed Piastri.
“We swapped helmets in Singapore, and ever since, he’s been untouchable,” the former Red Bull driver joked to Betoota Advocate.
“There’s something in that helmet, I felt it back then. And now it’s his. I’m not saying it’s magic… or maybe I am. That helmet belongs to Oscar now, and he’s setting lap times no one else can match. So tell me: coincidence or magic?”
Piastri has no plans to swap his 'magic helmet'
When Piastri was asked about his compatriot's words, he could only laugh too.
“If it works, I’m not changing a thing!” he answered.
As he was parting ways from the competition, Ricciardo also left a special note on the helmet last year: "Oscar, keep flying mate, doing your good thing. To many more win!"
After five Grands Prix weekends have been completed already, the McLaren driver leads in the drivers' championship by 10 points ahead of Lando Norris, and a further two ahead of defending champion Max Verstappen.
This weekend, the question is whether Piastri's magic helmet can bring him luck in Miami, where the season continues with a Sprint weekend.
Last year, the Miami GP seemed to be the turning point of the season for the Woking-based squad. Team principal Andrea Stella also still looks back fondly to the 2024 event hosted in the state of Florida.
This article was written in collaboration with Mitchell van der Hoef
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