Daniel Ricciardo is enjoying his time in the Renault garage, getting a feel of the car before his home grand prix in Melbourne.
After having made the switch from Red Bull, Ricciardo would be hoping that this season does not turn out to be an underwhelming one.
There have been multiple theories about why Ricciardo left Red Bull. With the Australian almost certain to sign an extension midway through last season, it came as a shock to the F1 fraternity that he decided to make the switch.
Some believed that Red Bull favouring Max led to the move, while others felt that Ricciardo just needed a change of scenery.
In an episode of the soon to be released Netflix F1 documentary, Horner has reportedly(according to the Telegraph) said that Ricciardo was running away from a fight with Max Verstappen.
“Is he (Ricciardo) making the right career choice? My assumption is that he is running from a fight (with Verstappen),” Horner said, according to The Telegraph.
Ricciardo has now gone onto respond to that dig from his former boss, admitting that it wasn’t in his nature to run away from any fight.
“I can see how people might want to think that or say that and everyone has an opinion and that hasn’t been pulled from nowhere,” Ricciardo said.
“I obviously say no, not true — I love a good fight. It’s more about me than Max and a lot of reasons but one I’ve stated a few times, and I think some people understand it, but I was at Red Bull for five years.
“They had won four titles and I joined straight after that. So in five years from that first year, I was like, ‘I’m going to win a world title, it’s going to happen’. It didn’t. We never really got close. I’m not bitter about it, it’s just the reality.” he added.
Ricciardo confirmed that he understood why people would think it was about Max, but admitted that it really wasn’t.
“My ability to become more frustrated in this environment was too high and I just don’t want to be that kind of unhappy, bitter person that’s just always ‘what could have been’, or ‘if only I’ve joined Red Bull in 2013’.” he explained.
“So, it wasn’t about Max. [But] I understand how some people might think that.” he added.
It would be fun to see the duo fight it out in different cars this season, after having shared a healthy relationship with each other during their Red Bull times.
