[shortbread]

Big news....

DANIEL Ricciardo has shocked Red Bull by telling them he’s leaving at the end of the season where he’ll reportedly join Renault.

The surprise report has emerged during a summer break in which Ricciardo said he would be “definitely” penning his Red Bull extension.

But claims that Ricciardo has ‘felt unloved by Red Bull after they made Max Verstappen their de facto No 1 by rewarding him with a massively improved deal last season’ have lead to his departure.

Jonathan McEvoy writes that the Australian, out of contract at the end of 2018, didn’t get the ‘assurances he craved’ from Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

Red Bull confirmed the 28-year-old Aussie star would be leaving the team in a statement released Friday night but did not confirm his move would be to Renault.

Ricciardo leaving Red Bull, who have won three races this season, for a Renault team, who are currently around a second-a-lap slower, would certainly be a shock, especially as the two outfits are at odds over engines at the moment.

Red Bull are ditching Renault power for Honda next year after a raft of reliability failures.

I had a suspicion this would happen. Pretty obvious Mateschitz and Marko prefer their scandanavian golden-boy Verstappen over the Australian team mate.

High time someone of Ricciardo's calibre get priority within a team. Plus Red Bull would take a couple of years to be competitive with Honda. Smart move I think.

source: https://www.news.com.au/sport/motors...62e4672e818c29

[Monolithic]

From Renaultsport.com

Renault Sport Formula One Team is pleased to confirm Daniel Ricciardo will join the team from the 2019 season. He will team up with current driver Nico Hülkenberg.

Twenty-nine-year-old Daniel, who hails from Perth, Australia, joins Renault Sport Formula One Team for the next two seasons.

Daniel has secured seven Grands Prix wins and stepped onto the podium 29 times. He is already very familiar with the Renault family, having driven in Renault junior series between 2007 and 2011 and has been powered by Renault engines in F1 since 2014.

This is a bombshell!

[deetjohn]

A BIG shot in the arm for Renault. No two ways about that!

But, its a real shame that he won't be driving for either Ferrari or Mercedes next season.

How is this going to pan out for him? We will never know till its all here. Drivers usually get inside info of the team and he might have seen something very interesting with Renault. But for every Lewis, there is an Alonso as well.

Hope it works out for him though. Daniel is a real talent in the car and he creates results. About time he got his due with a real TLC from the team!

[motorworks]

I think Dan has made a very sensible move. I do not think that RBR and Honda are going to mount a title challenge the next year. So either way Dan has no real chance at the title till the regulations change in 2021. And that is when Merc and Ferrari are likely to have seats, when probably Lewis or Seb retire or may even switch teams.

So when there is a very little chance of winning in the RBR Honda, why not spend 2 years with Renault with probably a better pay? Also he does not have to worry about how RBR treats him vs Max.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by motorworks

I think Dan has made a very sensible move. I do not think that RBR and Honda are going to mount a title challenge the next year. So either way Dan has no real chance at the title till the regulations change in 2021. And that is when Merc and Ferrari are likely to have seats, when probably Lewis or Seb retire or may even switch teams.

So when there is a very little chance of winning in the RBR Honda, why not spend 2 years with Renault with probably a better pay? Also he does not have to worry about how RBR treats him vs Max.

Feel RBR-Honda will continue to be quicker than Renualt next year. Their chassis is a work of art. Definitely more likely to get a win or two.
Honda's ghosts are behind them and they are putting a lot of money into their F1 project as Red Bull encourage them to turn Toro Rosso into scapegoats. 2019 should be their best year yet.

And after 5 years, Renault yet to get up to speed on their PU.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

A BIG shot in the arm for Renault. No two ways about that!

Totally. He sure is a talent.

But, its a real shame that he won't be driving for either Ferrari or Mercedes next season.

Unfortunate that two really good seats are spent on Bottas & Kimi (unless Leclerc is confirmed for Ferrari). There are so many younger / better drivers on the field, Daniel included. Sucks that these guys will never get a shot at the championship in the near future at least.

Drivers usually get inside info of the team and he might have seen something very interesting with Renault

Rather than Renault, I think he must have foreseen how ugly things will be with Honda.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by GTO

Unfortunate that two really good seats are spent on Bottas & Kimi (unless Leclerc is confirmed for Ferrari). There are so many younger / better drivers on the field, Daniel included. Sucks that these guys will never get a shot at the championship in the near future at least.



Rather than Renault, I think he must have foreseen how ugly things will be with Honda.

Here is why

The paradox of the wingman in a Formula 1 team


Bottas has sustaining talent - i.e. he has good enough talent to reach the podium in a good car.

Kimi has a mixture of both raw and sustaining talent. i.e the raw talent is suppressed as he is second fiddle to Seb so it becomes sustaining talent. My opinion!

Ricciardo realised that he has plenty of raw talent as seen in Shanghai, Baku and Monaco and realises he needs to step out of the Red Bull comfort zone. As in the case of Lewis moving to Mercedes, he must have seen the potential of Honda vs Renault and is willing to spend a year focussing on Renault engines getting to the last mile before taking the challenge upto Mercedes and Ferrari.

Good luck to him!

[Fullrevs]

Really shocking to see him make this move but I can't help but think that this is a stop-gap arrangement and he has a bigger announcement for 2020. Maybe some letter of intent has been signed with him by Mercedez of Ferrari?

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by shortbread

Big news....
I had a suspicion this would happen. Pretty obvious Mateschitz and Marko prefer their scandanavian golden-boy Verstappen over the Australian team mate.

High time someone of Ricciardo's calibre get priority within a team. Plus Red Bull would take a couple of years to be competitive with Honda. Smart move I think.

I think the masterstroke was the way he used McLaren's desperation to up his price. Im sure he had no intention to actually move there.

Renault were then forced to up their offer resulting in a big pay day. Red Bull were never going to pay him more than Max.

Frankly, the Red Bull chassis is by far the best on the grid, tough to come out ahead with a below par Renault PU.