Ricciardo Moving – “a mistake”
Ricciardo moved to Renault in 2019 after a rocky 2018 season with Red Bull. During said season, he retired 8 times from races and had gained 170 points. His competition with teammate Max Verstappen, however, may have potentially caused the move.
Ricciardo also had a rocky start to his career with Renault. In 2019, he had to retire from the first two races of the season, with front-wing damage and power failure in Australia and Bahrain accordingly. China, the third round, didn’t give him much hope either; he finished in 7th place.
Altogether, Ricciardo finished 9th in the championship, with 54 points to his name.
“…all the love was in Max’s direction…”
The 2020 season also saw a rough start with Renault; another season-opener retirement, and then finished in P8 in the next two races. During the British GP, he finished 4th, equalling his best Renault finish. Continuing on throughout the season, he was able to get a podium at Imola at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with P3.
During that season, however, Ricciardo announced that he will be leaving the team to head to McLaren. Martin Brundle, speaking in ‘In the Fast Lane’ podcast, believes Ricciardo would have been better off staying at Red Bull.
“He probably should have stayed at Red Bull, but he felt all the love was in Max’s direction and I can understand that completely.”
“Renault was a mistake, which we all kind of suspected at the time. But I think that was him needing to get out of Red Bull as much as anything.”
McLaren is Ricciardo’s ‘last big chance”
On the note of Ricciardo joining McLaren, Brundle thinks it might be ‘his last big chance at a World Championship.’ He doesn’t, however, think this possible World Championship will come soon.
“McLaren have signed off a new wind-tunnel, they currently use the Toyota one in Cologne and with Covid they haven’t been able to use that much either.
“So I think he will have to be patient there. The fruits of this new wind-tunnel are not going to come through for two to three years, and I think he has got that with them” he explained. “Yes I do believe, if he has the patience, they have the patience, that if he sticks with McLaren they can take him back to the front of the field” he continued.
“I think unless he can somehow get into a Mercedes, where else would he go?”
Your Take – Did Ricciardo Make the Wrong Choice?
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