“I wouldn’t be cruel”- Daniel Ricciardo speaks on the tattoo bet he has with Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul for this season.
Daniel Ricciardo has an interesting bet with Renault’s team principal Cyril Abiteboul if the Australian driver ends on a podium before leaving Renault this season.
Interestingly, Ricciardo was almost 3 seconds away from contesting a podium position during Belgian Grand Prix but was defeated by his former teammate Max Verstappen.
Now, he thinks that his car could be even stronger for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, and when Motorsport.com asked about Cyril losing the bet against him, he conveyed that he has warned Cyril to stay alert.
“At least last year, Monza was an even stronger circuit for us: and if we are stronger there’s only a podium in front of us. I’m not getting ahead of myself, or the team isn’t, but I think we can go to Monza with confidence and aim high.”
“I think if the strategy of Gasly and Perez didn’t put a buffer between Max and myself, I really think I could have run with Max for that last stint,” he said.
Better result by Renault
“He pulled away because obviously we lost time with the different strategy, and then we reeled a big gap towards the end. So Monza, all going well, we should be pretty competitive.”
With Renault having had some mixed results so far this year, Ricciardo admitted he never expected to be threatening a Red Bull the way he did on Sunday.
“It was certainly surprising,” he said. “I knew we would have a decent car. But when I heard the lap times, and that the Mercedes was dropping off tails, I thought okay, maybe everyone’s just saving their engines.
“But it sounded like they were genuinely struggling a bit and we were just getting faster and faster and faster. It was really encouraging that pace at the end.”
What will be the design of the tattoo – “I wouldn’t be cruel”
Ricciardo opened about what will be the design of the tattoo, as the Australian racer is more than confident of sealing a podium this season in the remaining races.
“I saw some mock-ups of the Tyson face tat…on, Cyril,” he said. “But I think he chooses the placement, so it’s definitely not going to be on his face!
“I wouldn’t be cruel and get him like a rubber duck or something. I’ll get him, I think, something so it’s a good memory, so I guess maybe the destination where the podium happens. So something to do with that, whether it’s that circuit or that city in that country. We’ll see.
“Or a shoe maybe, a Shoey. We will cross that bridge when we get there, but I am sure I will be flooded with ideas.”
