Daniel Ricciardo made the bold decision of moving to Renault post the summer break, after it was initially believed that he would extend his contract with Red Bull and stay put.
Red Bull’s inclination towards Verstappen reportedly made Ricciardo take the tough decision.
The Australian did not have a chance at a Mercedes seat, as Mercedes had already confirmed their line up for the 2019 season. A Ferrari seat was going to be his only option of being amongst the top 3 teams.
However, that move too didn’t quite muster for Ricciardo, as Ferrari had made up their mind on Vettel retaining his seat and one from Kimi or Leclerc getting that second seat at Ferrari.
In a recent interview for Italian magazine, Automoto, Ricciardo spoke about his relationship with Red Bull, Verstappen, his move to Renault and the rumoured connection with Ferrari.
He had only good things to say about Red Bull and Verstappen, as he shared some wonderful moments with them through all these years.
He spoke about how the problems at Red Bull, especially with respect to reliability were frustrating him and thus he needed a change in scenery
“I had a terrible season on one side, incredible on the other, I started the year well, two victories, the one in Monte Carlo, really unforgettable, then I had a lot of technical problems that really disappointed me, I did not know anymore What to expect … Here, the second part of the season was something terrible, irritating and humiliating for all the problems that I had to meet.In the end it was better for me to change the air and I signed with Renault, I would not be able to go on yet another year under these conditions “. Ricciardo said.
Ricciardo was pretty emotional about his time with Red Bull and said that he would cherish these 5 years forever, as he had forged some wonderful relationships and had had some wonderful races.
“No, not at all, I made the first pole position with them, I won the first race and then many more, we had incredibly good times, it was a good team and I have to say that I’m very close to the guys on the team. I will miss them very much, they were all incredibly nice, good and friends, I will always love them ” the Aussie said.
The attention then turned to Max, with whom Ricciardo shares a wonderful personal and professional relationship.
He explained how Max helped get the best out of him.
“Meanwhile, let’s say that with Max I have a great relationship, he’s a good guy, one who is strong and forces you to take everything out of you and when you do you discover that you have to make an effort. I understood that for me there was no more room than I wanted, Chris Horner understood it and reluctantly accepted my decision to leave.” Ricciardo explained.
When asked about the reports that Ferrari rejected him because he was asking for too much money, Ricciardo said that he wasn’t aware of any such thing and that it was all lies.
He then made a controversial statement about ‘someone’ not wanting him at Ferrari, saying that he had an idea as to who it was.
“I can not say why I do not know what you’re talking about … Who said I’d asked for too much money mind … Evidently someone said no when I arrived … Who, I’d like to know, but maybe I have an idea” Ricciardo said.
“Ha ha ha … good question … maybe it’s better if you do it to them … I talked and discussed, but you see that they had already made arrangements with Leclerc, so mine fell. good and that works well, good luck, as far as I’m concerned, I hope to still have some time in F1 and who knows that in the future there are not opportunities to meet again, this time it went like this” he concluded.
Did Vettel veto Ricciardo’s move to Ferrari or was he never in the management’s plans?
