“Renault [move] was pretty good,” Daniel Ricciardo reflects on Red Bull departure
Daniel Ricciardo quit Red Bull at the end of 2018, having joined the team in 2014 following his graduation from Toro Rosso. His departure was largely attributed to tensions between him and Max Verstappen.
However, his decision hasn’t majorly gone well with the Renault man bringing just one race win at the 2021 Italian GP with McLaren.
READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton Edges Lando Norris and George Russell To Win Award.
One may think Ricciardo regrets his decision to leave Red Bul, the latter eased to a title double in 2022.
As it stands, Ricciardo holds no regret for ‘taking a gamble on himself.’ While speaking to Beyond the Grid podcast, the Italian-Australian racing driver confessed that Renault [move] was pretty good.
“If I stayed there the last four years, could I say I would have had more podiums than I’ve had? What have I had, maybe three or something? Yeah, I’m confident to say I would have had more podiums than I’ve had.
“But you just don’t know. Obviously at the time I felt like it was right for me. I felt like I needed a change and I needed to kind of just remove myself a bit. If I continued [at Red Bull], would that urge have grown? Would I have become, let’s say, more curious or less happy, or whatever?
READ MORE: Mercedes expectant of a challenging season, says Wolff.
“It’s not a sure thing that it would have been great if I stayed. I don’t look back and say, ‘Man, I shouldn’t have [left]’. But, of course, I can be honest with myself and say, ‘Yeah, I took a little bit of a gamble on myself’.
“I still feel like the Renault [move] was pretty good, especially 2020 – [that was] one of the best seasons I’ve driven in F1. To get the team back on the podium, I was very proud of that.
“But obviously the McLaren one, even with the win… the win was a high and I can’t remove that, I can’t ignore that. I can look and say, ‘I tried as well with this one [and] it didn’t quite work out’.
“You live and you learn, but I don’t look back with regret. I just say, ‘Okay, it was a challenge I took on, and it didn’t work out how I hoped’.”
