Early in 2023, McLaren is noticing a "closeness" between its two Formula 1 drivers that is "certainly much better than what we saw last year" when Daniel Ricciardo battled. As a substitute for Daniel Ricciardo, who had an unsatisfactory two-year stay with the team, McLaren swooped to sign Oscar Piastri from rival Alpine this season. Ricciardo had made his F1 debut with McLaren.
Even though the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship has only just begun, every fan already has one major concern on their mind: how well will Oscar Piastri perform this year, particularly in comparison to Daniel Ricciardo?
Oscar Piastri's entry into Formula One was one of the most anticipated (and contentious) ever. The 21-year-old Australian, widely hailed as a future World Champion, is making his F1 debut this season with McLaren and taking Daniel Ricciardo's place at the venerable British team.
But the general consensus is that he had better be. Even if Ricciardo's inability to launch at McLaren was one of the biggest mysteries in recent Formula 1 history, supporters were nonetheless quite sad to see him leave the team. Expectations are high for Piastri, who is under pressure to outperform both Ricciardo and his promising colleague Lando Norris.
The difference between Piastri and Norris in qualifying will be the single best predictor of Piastri's ability. There's a reason why most fans and analysts use this number to compare how good drivers are to their teammates and the rest of the grid: how much faster will Piastri be than Norris on a flying lap without the pressure of overt competition?
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