Ricciardo: the pressure is more positive at Renault

Daniel Ricciardo will play its 9th season in F1 by no longer defending Red Bull's interests for the first time. The Australian with seven Grand Prix victories has chosen to bet his future on Renault, even if the Losange is further back than the stable of Milton Keynes in the hierarchy of the board.

“It’s a chance for me to rediscover this original passion. I remain open to discovery, to learning even more about the discipline, about ways to improve… I met the engineers and I discovered new ways of working”, explained the last winner of the Monaco GP.

“I was able to provide feedback from my experiences at Red Bull. I hope this can help them progress on the car”, he said.

Daniel Ricciardo has confirmed that he had doubts when choosing which team he would play for in 2019.

“I was stressed last year when making this choice, but I had the feeling of being liberated when I made my decision to join Renault. I don't have any negative feelings towards Red Bull, but I felt it was the right decision."he insisted.

“I already had some great challenges to take on with them, particularly against Max (Verstappen), but I was looking for new ones. It was the end of a chapter started about ten years ago and it was time to start a new one. Every year ended with a feeling of frustration because Red Bull hoped to do better and it was difficult to get satisfaction from that. Here we are in a process of progression. I feel pressure here but it's more positive. »

The Australian is also aware that he can no longer hope to achieve the same results as last year, with the French team still in the construction phase.

“I won't regret my choice if I can't play for the podium straight away. We should become the second best team to hope to get on the podium regularly. Currently, we are in 4th place and that would mean having an exceptional year. So I don’t expect to immediately find the best places”he said.