It’s been three years since Daniel Ricciardo decided to swap Renault for McLaren. However, even after all these years, Ricciardo’s then-boss, Cyril Abiteboul, has refused to forgive the Honey Badger for what he termed a “selfish” move, as per Motorsportweek.com.
While on the Dans La Boîte À Gants podcast, Abiteboul said (as quoted by Motorsportweek.com), “I think it’s a very early move, a bit selfish, because in the end, it will have given the team just one season’s chance, and so it’s true that it’s a decision that I’m taking badly,” while talking about Ricciardo deciding to leave the team at the end of 2020 having joined just a year prior.
What’s more, the ex-Renault boss still takes Ricciardo’s decision very personally. “Of course, because I can see that it’s a personal rejection. I take it completely personally. I accept it. And I can see what the consequences are going to be, too,” he added.
Abiteboul feels that the Australian felt somewhat demoted, given that he was not in a Red Bull anymore. However, the Honey Badger left the Bulls specifically to move out of Max Verstappen’s shadow to become a team leader. But just 2 years into that project with the French team, he jumped ship to McLaren.
Despite some stunning moments, Daniel Ricciardo faced horror at Renault and McLaren
Ricciardo bagged two podiums in his last year with the team. But the podiums at the Eifel GP and the Emilia Romagna GP came as a surprise for the team as well, given their 2019 struggles. Abiteboul explained, “I don’t see it happening either that we [would] have such a good year in 2020, all the same, with podiums and a car that once again, by making a few fewer mistakes, could [have finished] third in the standings.”
However, in 2021, Ricciardo decided to set up shop at Woking. In hindsight, that turned out to be a pretty disastrous 2-year stint with the Papaya team. And Abiteboul is acutely aware of the problem. “Ricciardo always has a timing problem: he left us too early, and he left McLaren too early,” he claims.
The time the 34-year-old spent with the two teams has left a visible scar on the man, too. As Christian Horner explained to Speedcafe.com, “I think he picked up a lot of bad habits” while talking after Ricciardo made his comeback to the Red Bull family.
