Daniel Ricciardo Is Ditching Red Bull Racing - For Renault
Daniel Ricciardo will leave the Red Bull F1 team at the end of the 2018 season – and join the factory Renault outfit.
The move comes just a few weeks after Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said a contract was close to being signed, and less than a year after the team gave Ricciardo’s young firebrand teammate Max Verstappen a massive new contract and made him the third-best-paid driver on the grid.
The seven-time race-winner since his promotion to the senior Red Bull team in 2014 had previously been linked with Mercedes and Ferrari, but the Mercedes door is now shut with both the team’s drivers agreeing new deals.
The Ferrari option was always unlikely because it would have put Ricciardo back alongside Sebastian Vettel, with whom he had a rocky relationship when the pair were at Red Bull together in the 2014 season.
Ricciardo is regarded as one of the best drivers in the field. While most observers agree that he lacks the outright one-lap pace of Lewis Hamilton or perhaps even Vettel, his racecraft is superb and his ability to pull amazing overtaking manoeuvres is an attribute we’ve seen many times.
The Renault factory outfit currently sits fourth in the constructors’ championship, just one place – but a massive 141 points – behind Red Bull. Ricciardo said, via press release:
“It was probably one of the most difficult decisions to take in my career so far. But I thought that it was time for me to take on a fresh and new challenge.
“I realise that there is a lot ahead in order to allow Renault to reach their target of competing at the highest level but I have been impressed by their progression in only two years, and I know that each time Renault has been in the sport they eventually won. I hope to be able to help them in this journey and contribute on and off track.”
Comments
This is like going from an R34 GTR to an R34 GTT
More like going from a Flying Car to a 2006 Renault Megane
But with honda engines, red bull could become the r36 vtec swapped car of the grid
What an analogy! 😀
Like trading a Challenger Hellcat for a Colt Challenger
Fernando Alonso part 2😂
But without any championships
I’d like to imagine the contract deal kinda went like this…
Christian Horner: “Do you want a seat next year Dan?”
Danny Ric: “Re-no mate… I’m good”…
From what I believe, i can’t blame Riccardo
Red Bull is favouring the younger more prospering Verstappan, over him. It’s obvious. Max got a massive pay raise (from what I’ve read) and Daniel has all right to feel like he’s becoming No. 2 to the team
It’s EXACTLY what Red Bull did to Mark Webber when they started to Favour Vettel over him
Why he wants to switch to a worst team?
I think he left because RBR were preferring Verstappen to him. He’d do the same at Ferrari and both Merc seats are filled.
In the current season, yes, Renault is worse. However they have shown massive progress since returning to the sport in 2016, and are looking better and better as the season progresses.
There is also the fact that RBR is switching to Honda power next year, which could go any way. Ricciardo probably doesn’t want to take that risk, and as CannedRex mentioned earlier, there is also the Verstappen factor.
To be honest, I think it is the best choice for him.
Both of the Mercedes seats are filled, and he plays the second fiddle at both Ferrari and Red Bull which is why he left in the first place.
This is like saying:
Screw America I’m moving to Alaska
Or this seat sucks, next time I’m buying a skoda
With trump being the honda engine, it’s not that bad. I’d say Renault are like canada since it is a work team
Alaska is America ..
was it really a shock though, you are dumb if you thought he was going to let his career die with Honda like Alonso’s
This can go two ways. Either he does a Hamilton to Mercedes or Alonso to McLaren. Staying at RBR would only make him Webber v2
Danny Ric is a risk-taker, so I guess a 50/50 chance isn’t really that scary to him. I’ll miss the Ricciardo-Verstappen ‘bromance’, but I’d like to see the spark between the Hulk and Danny Ric as well.
Just wondering how’s Danny Ric’s Valkyrie order coming together now…
Trust me… The bromance between Ric and the Hulk is even stronger
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