Ricciardo could maybe see things within Red Bull getting worse, as the team would have started to follow Verstappen’s path when it came to developing the car.
No disrespect to Ricciardo, but the engineers and designers will always listen to the faster man because if they give him a tenth of a second he will take it. Verstappen was, and still is, that driver.
Yes, Renault were definitely a lesser team than Red Bull but the move to becoming the No 1 driver, most likely with a bigger pay packet, in a works team was perhaps enough to get him to sign for the French outfit.
Although not at Red Bull’s level, Ricciardo achieved some good results in his second year with the team, finishing fifth in the championship and securing two podiums.
I would argue, though, that his decision to move to McLaren was the wrong one. Staying with Renault for another year may have increased his reputation, as changing teams frequently means you spend a lot of time bedding into the new environment and getting up to speed with the processes of the team as well as the characteristics of the car.
Yet at McLaren his form dropped off as he was trounced by Lando Norris in their two seasons. It was not a disastrous 2021, with another race win to his name, but in 2022 he scored only 37 points to Norris’s 122.
Indeed, it was the difficult characteristics of the McLaren that were frequently mentioned as the reason for this fall-off in form. There is some truth in that, but it is the mark of the very best drivers to adapt to the characteristics of the car. There is no point making a car a comfortable limousine that qualifies at the back of the grid.
Daniel Ricciardo on track in Singapore.Credit: Getty Images
With his experience, Ricciardo should have been able to adapt to these characteristics better and apply himself. He did not. This no doubt dented his confidence, which made things harder still, and McLaren dropped him a year early from his contract.
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His return with AlphaTauri/RB was a final shot at the big time. For a driver with his talent and ambitions he wanted to prove himself good enough to return to Red Bull alongside Verstappen.
For a variety of reasons – not helped by a broken hand last year – he was unable to achieve the results needed for Red Bull to consider him again.
Of all the drivers to come through the Red Bull scheme, Ricciardo has been given as big a chance for success as anybody. He should leave F1 satisfied with what he has achieved, even if that fell short of his ultimate goal of becoming world champion.
London Telegraph