Ricciardo and Piastri spotted driving a McLaren together on Melbourne streets

A photo posted to social media showed Piastri behind the wheel of the McLaren road car, with Ricciardo in the passenger seat.

Just two Aussies going out for drive #F1 pic.twitter.com/mL8pCB3BnT

— Crash F1 (@CRASH_NET_F1) January 10, 2023

It is proof of an unlikely friendship between the two Australian F1 drivers - and also a sense of mischief.

Veteran driver Ricciardo has lost his spot in the F1 2023 driver line-up after McLaren opted to terminate the final year of his contract.

The team replaced him with talented rookie Piastri, whose manager Mark Webber is also an Australian.

Any potential awkwardness behind the trio from Down Under has seemingly been ended by the hilarious picture of Ricciardo and Piastri driving a McLaren together.

Piastri had previously revealed that Ricciardo reached out to insist there were no hard feelings: "Him getting in touch like that, that was great for me personally, knowing that there were no hard feelings. That really helps me quite a lot, and it was good to get in touch.

“It was a nice moment. If I can get close to emulating the success he's had on track and the character he is off the track, I think I'll be doing a reasonable job.”

Ricciardo will be Red Bull’s third driver in 2023.