Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber played it smart by turning down Alpine and "taking" the McLaren seat from Daniel Ricciardo.
The Australian still had an ongoing contract, but that was eventually dissolved. Ricciardo spoke with Piastri and Webber about how things went over the past few weeks.
Webber, Piastri's manager, flew to Holland himself last weekend. The former Formula 1 driver felt a bit guilty about how things went and wanted to apologise.
Ricciardo himself felt that an apology was not really necessary, because what happened is part of the sport.
Ricciardo sought out Piastri himself. The Perth-based driver wanted to be sure his compatriot would not feel guilty about his own fate.
Ricciardo wished his successor all the best and there was no hard feelings whatsoever. "I understand how this works.
He's trying to make it, he's trying to get into Formula One. This moment should be really big for him.
I don't want to make it a bad situation for him, and that's that. It's nothing personal. So that's all the conversation was."
For Ricciardo himself, it is unclear where his future lies.
The current number twelve in the world championship is said to be on lists from Haas F1 and Alpine,
although the latter seems to be going for Pierre Gasly to replace the departed Fernando Alonso.
The choice is not vast and so Ricciardo may not return to the top level until 2024.
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