Daniel Ricciardo's comeback is, so far, the topic of conversation around the Hungarian Grand Prix. After a six-month break, the Australian is back on the grid. Fellow countryman and also replacement at McLaren, Oscar Piastri, is happy to see 'The Honeybadger' back.
After disappointing performances for McLaren's team, Zak Brown decided to give Piastri a chance in Formula 1. The Melbourne-born driver became Formula 2 champion in 2021 and was still part of the Alpine Academy last year. Meanwhile, Lando Norris' teammate has ten races under his belt in Formula 1. The highlight came during the previous race at Silverstone when the McLaren driver narrowly missed out on the podium. He would have been the first 'rookie' since Lance Stroll to finish on the podium, but this has not happened so far.
With Ricciardo's comeback, there are again two Australians on the grid. At the press conference, Piastri reacted to the news announced last Tuesday: "I'm very happy for him to be back. I remember watching when it was towards his last time around. So that's very, very cool. We're from a long way away, and it's pretty rare to have two of us at the same time. For a country with such a small population relative to Europe, it's very, very cool to have two of us on the big stage."