Why momentum is again behind Australia’s aces

Having burst back on to the top of the podium at Monza just after completing his 200th grand prix start at Spa, Daniel Ricciardo has completely revamped his season and potentially his whole career. Early next year he will pass Mark Webber’s existing record for the most starts for an Australian and his success in Italy meant a deep breath of relief after a troubling time earlier in the season.

In the first 10 races of the year, he outqualified his team-mate Lando Norris on just three occasions and scored under half of the Briton’s points tally. The gap in qualifying was the biggest average loss he has suffered in his career.

In 2018, Ricciardo lost out to Max Verstappen by just 0.14s across 18 representative qualifying sessions, then decided to move to Renault. The advantage swung in his favour over Nico Hulkenberg by a minimal margin, while he topped Esteban Ocon across the 2020 season by 0.15s. So the deficit of 0.273s to Norris in the first part of 2021 was a real blow to a competitor of Ricciardo’s experience and talent.

The Monza victory proved Ricciardo has the depth in him to overcome this glitch, but that poor early season display would still have been a real jolt. For a driver who pulled off some brilliant late-braking overtakes in a Red Bull, his lack of confidence in the McLaren when braking hasn’t helped. The car also counters his natural technique of carrying high entry speed into a corner on a qualifying lap, something that the aerodynamic profile of the MCL35M does not encourage.

Back home some of his fans have also suffered, as Australian broadcaster and journalist Michael Lamonato told me: “The early part of the season was a bit of a gut punch because Daniel had so much momentum last year. A couple of podiums in his second year at Renault made people feel like he was on to something and then the change to McLaren resonated deeply with many Australian F1 fans.

“But to see he’s effectively been nowhere and being beaten by a guy so much younger has opened some wounds from the Webber/Vettel era. Some fans feel his opportunities may pass him by if he can’t rise up to Lando’s level.”

Lando Norris, McLaren, 2nd position, and Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, 1st position, congratulate each other in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Ricciardo is up against a talented youngster who is totally at one with a car which has been developed around him; Norris joined the team at the perfect time, as it re-set itself from a disappointing first year with Renault power and engaged crucial personnel such as technical director James Key and team principal Andreas Seidl. The revamp included an entirely new driver line up, switching from Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne to Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr. For Norris, a champion in junior categories such as Formula Renault and FIA Formula 3, it has worked well.

Junior champions often have that soaring ability to rise even higher when reaching the top echelon, but not all of them reconfigure for F1. Vandoorne was a key example; a champion
in Formula Renault, he was runner-up to Jolyon Palmer in his rookie season of GP2 before confirming that ability by winning the title a year later. Yet F1 didn’t quite work for him and his exploits 
are now seen elsewhere.

So what are the chances for another junior category multiple winner who is within sight of becoming the next Formula 2 champion?

Oscar Piastri could become the 15th Australian to race in F1 since 1950. He has an Italian family background like Ricciardo but was brought up in the metropolitan area of Melbourne, a multicultural environment that probably helped him cope with karting in Europe from the age of 15.

Managed by Webber, Piastri was taken on board by the young driver programme of Alpine at the beginning of 2020. He is well positioned to eventually break into the top level, even if that doesn't happen next year, especially if he repeats the Charles Leclerc and George Russell trick of consecutive GP3/F3 and F2 titles

Piastri switched to British Formula 4 in 2017, taking the runners-up spot to Jamie Caroline in the year that Billy Monger suffered his life changing accident at Donington Park. In 2018 Piastri moved to Eurocup Formula Renault, winning the title a year later before going on to win the prestigious FIA F3 series in the final round of 2020 at Mugello in a nail-biting showdown.

Now he is part of the Prema team in Formula 2, having taken over Mick Schumacher’s seat alongside the driver that I thought might dominate the series in 2021 – Robert Shwartzman. The Ferrari Driver Academy member was a major contender in his rookie campaign of last year but despite that experience Piastri managed to outqualify Shwartzman at three of the first four events, and the only time he qualified behind him was when they ran in separate sessions in Monaco.

After his feature race win at Monza, Piastri headed into the Sochi weekend with a 15-point championship lead in what is still a very unpredictable series.

Oscar Piastri, Prema Racing

Photo by: James Gasperotti / Motorsport Images

He’s a young man with talent and some excellent connections; managed by Webber, he was taken on board by the young driver programme of Alpine at the beginning of 2020. The 20-year-old is well positioned to eventually break into the top level, even if that doesn't happen next year, especially if he repeats the Charles Leclerc and George Russell trick of consecutive GP3/F3 and F2 titles.

PLUS: How F2's biggest talent could be forced to spend 2022 on the bench

While seats in F1 are hard to come by, the fact that Piastri also won his main race at Monza proves that Australian racing drivers are going to be a factor in the highest level of motorsport for a long time to come.

Podium: Race winner Oscar Piastri, Prema Racing, second place Guanyu Zhou, UNI-Virtuosi, third place Dan Ticktum, Carlin

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd