Daniel Ricciardo has recently sat down with Natalie Pinkham, Daniel's good friend and Sky reporter, to discuss his last season with Red Bull and what made him decide to part ways to join Renault.
Daniel and Red Bull are closely associated with one another, you can't have Daniel Ricciardo without Red Bull Racing, so why did the ever-smiling Australian decide to move to Renault?
Red Bull have been on the F1 grid since 2005. In this time, the team have managed to secure 4 Drivers and Constructors Championships in 2010-2013. All of which were won by Sebastian Vettel. Unfortunately, the year Daniel joined, 2014, the dominating streak ended and with such high expectations after 4 years and no title to show for it, should we be surprised? Adding to this, Daniel will turn thirty this July, although not old, this sport moves fast and will wait for no-one and seeing as the prime age over the last ten years has been 29, has Daniel missed his opportunity?
The short answer, no he hasn't, Lewis Hamilton is still wining Championships aged 33. Lewis isn't the only one, three others have also won the title at 33: Jack Brabham in 1959; Graham Hill in 1962 and Michael Schumacher in 2002. Just for clarity, Daniel definitely hasn't missed his time seeing as the oldest World Champion was Juan Manuel Fangio who won aged 46 in 1957!
Age isn't the only factor as to why Daniel took the leap to Renault, Daniel and Red Bull had been together since 2008, when he joined the Red Bull Junior Programme. Daniel had essentially spent the entirety of his professional racing career with Red Bull. After all that time, maybe all the Australian needed was a change of scene, some fresh faces or even just a new challenge? Although being a part of the Red Bull family has its advantages, it also has its downfalls. With Red Bull being so universally known, there will always be media commitments everywhere you go. Without a doubt, every race weekend, you can expect to see a new video of the Red Bull drivers either experiencing new culture or just messing around together. Either way, this could get very tiresome. But don't forget, Red Bull definitely has its perks, Daniel has been seen many times at Red Bull sponsored events, many of which he had chosen to attend.
When asked about how Daniel made his decision, he replied "Looking back now, the decision about my future in F1 had been all-consuming for some time, and it took its toll on me more than I had realised." He went on to say," Fortunately on track I'm decisive but off track I've never been good with, like, just anything. But after I made my mind up, I felt comfortable with my decision." Daniel actually admitted to have made his decision on a flight to LA after the Hungarian Grand Prix. "About halfway through the flight, some 40,000 feet above the east coast of the United States, I turned off the movie I was watching, grabbed a glass of wine and had a real good think about my future."
Before any decision was made many believed Daniel would move to Mercedes or Ferrari, as both teams had at least one driver without contracts for 2019. However, both teams signed other drivers. Natalie Pinkham asked Daniel whether he believed Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel held any control over him moving to their current teams. Daniel put these rumours to rest, "Honestly I don't actually know. But, I don't thing Lewis and Sebastian hold enough power to say 'no' or veto a driver. Mercedes and Ferrari are so powerful that they would just do it and sign who ever they want." He ended with, "Also, don't you just think it shows you as vulnerable saying you don't want a certain driver as your teammate?"
With Daniel now at Renault, there will no longer be the Max and Daniel 'bromance' that everyone loves. Many were shocked at how well the pair got on, especially as they were teammates battling it out, both giving each other a run for their money. Even Daniel himself was shocked, "I was always relatively surprised at how well it worked as teammates." Daniel clarified his reasoning, "Everyone knows he's (Max Verstappen) obviously been vocal and said whatever about on track or off track moments. Whether it's about a driver or a team principle. So I guess everyone in a way knows how stubborn he is and driven and determined and I guess confident." Daniel continued to give an insight in to Formula 1 drivers and the rift that is often caused between teammates, "There's definitely an air of confidence, certainly not arrogance, but I think just a confidence and a belief within ourselves that I think is as strong as any other driver on the Grid. So when you get that in the same team pushing for podiums or a win, naturally it can create a big division, but for whatever reason it never really did."
Daniel continued to discuss his relationship with Max, particularly when they battled on track, "We had some on track incidents and sure, at times I wanted to grab him and maybe he wanted to do the same with me, but I don't know. We were always just able to move on. From my side, I always think it takes a bit of maturity. But if Max beats me, sure, I don't like it but if he's done it fair and square then all I can do is respect that and shake his hand and try and learn from it. Having that kind of respect, understanding and maturity level is part of the solution."
Many know Daniel for his beaming smile and joyous personality, but is this a trait that helped or hindered him at Red Bull? This question was put to the Australian, "I'm a nice person, it's a great thing for me. But this year I pushed back a few times." This comment was said with a typical Daniel Ricciardo laugh, but if you relay this back to the Austrian qualifying, in which Daniel was "punching a hole" for Max, it definitely adds some weight to his comment. Daniel definitely released his inner honey badger this season, a mascot he's had with him since his karting days.
In the final minuets of Natalie Pinkham's 'In the Pink' podcast, Daniel was talking very fondly of Red Bull "I will remember this team, these great people, this family forever."
So, the 10 year partnership of Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull Racing has been brought to an end, they've been through ups and downs together, they've secured 7 wins, 29 podiums and a grand total of 5 shoeys!
Now on to the new chapter...
Comments