Daniel Ricciardo discloses thought process behind leaving Red Bull

Utkarsh Bhatla | 18/01/2019

Daniel Ricciardo dropped a bomb on the F1 world when post the summer break he announced that he would be moving on from Red Bull.

Horner and Marko were convinced that Ricciardo wanted that Red Bull extension going into the summer break.

The general sentiment around the F1 world too was that Ricciardo would be partnering Max for at least another year.

However, Ricciardo wanted a change of scenery and he wanted it soon enough.

Thus, he decided to make the switch to Renault, a move that could go in either direction next season.

Now, speaking to ‘Racer’, Ricciardo has revealed his exact thought process during contract negotiations with Red Bull.

Ricciardo has admitted that he wasn’t really open to a 2 year contract, something that Red Bull were pretty keen on.

Factoring in Honda’s entry into that Red Bull garage, Ricciardo wasn’t quite certain he wanted a 2 year deal, especially with there being no guarantee about how the Honda engine would fare.

“What I was going back and forth with was, originally [Red Bull] wanted to do a two-year deal, and because I’d already questioned if I wanted to do another year there, doing two years… I was a bit concerned with me personally; with my motivation to still be there.” Ricciardo said.

“I was just thinking if Honda doesn’t work, next year’s a year of frustration, then am I really going to want to do another year on top of that, or am I just going to get a bit over it?

“So initially the two-year thing was something that concerned me, so then it was like: OK, let’s try and push for a one year and if the Honda works, great, we’ll extend it and whatever. Easy.” he added.

Ricciardo emphasised on the point that he wasn’t too keen on a 1 year deal, as that would put him in a similar position 12 months from now, and that was something that he did not quite want.

“But then one year felt risky. It felt like I wasn’t really achieving anything by signing a one-year. I don’t know, it just didn’t really add up. So what I thought I wanted, I didn’t really want in the end. So there wasn’t really anything for me.

“The two-year, for me, I didn’t really feel I wanted, and a one-year was like it puts me in this position again in 12 months time, and I don’t really want to be back in this position to be honest, because it’s starting to become a bit wearing.” Ricciardo concluded.

Do you think Ricciardo made the right decision?

Post Edited By: Utkarsh Bhatla
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull

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Utkarsh Bhatla

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