05/09/2022
NEWS STORY
Daniel Ricciardo has spoken to both Oscar Piastri and his manager, Mark Webber over the Dutch GP weekend, the Australian insisting that there is no bad feeling towards either of them.
The decision of the Contract Recognition Board merely a formality, in all honesty Friday's announcement had little impact on Daniel Ricciardo, other than the timing of certain events.
Of more concern to the Australian, who endured another difficult weekend, are his prospects for 2023, which at this moment in time are not looking good.
While most remain unhappy at the way Ricciardo has been treated by the various parties involved, over the Zandvoort weekend the Australian was able to talk to the man set to replace him at McLaren next season, Oscar Piastri, and his manager, Mark Webber.
"We hadn't seen each other in person," said Ricciardo of Webber, who was on duty for Channel 4 over the weekend.
"I feel he didn't need to, but he felt like he wanted to, in a way, apologise and try to just see how I'm doing," he added.
"I know how this sport is," he continued, "it's nothing personal to me, but he wanted to make sure that I knew that and understood that and just to make sure that I felt okay.
"He feels really bad, obviously, in how it's gone down and obviously how things have been put out there in the media. So yeah, it was obviously nice to speak to him."
"I've also spoken to Oscar, to be honest" he added, according to Speedcafe, "just to make sure that there's no bad feelings there.
"I understand how this works," said Ricciardo. "He's trying to make it, he's trying to get into Formula 1. This moment should be really big for him, I don't want to make it a bad situation for him. That's that, it's nothing personal.
"That's all the conversation was, and I truly do wish him well. I want him to have a good run in Formula 1.
"It's just the circumstances and that's how it is but I still obviously like Mark a lot and respect him."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Zandvoort here.