“That Was a Massive Mistake”: Peter Windsor Brings Forth Daniel Ricciardo’s Horror of the Past

Life could have been different for Daniel Ricciardo had he stayed at Red Bull in 2019, instead of choosing to drive for Renault. Several experts have brought this up over the last few years, and now Peter Windsor has done the same. The former Ferrari manager also insists that Ricciardo could have been better than Max Verstappen in some aspects, had he stayed put at the Austrian stable.

“That was a massive mistake he made,” says Windsor on Cameron F1’s YouTube channel. “He hadn’t won a World Championship [but] he was going to win a lot more Grand Prix.” 

Windsor acknowledged the Verstappen factor too. The Dutchman, in 2019, was the biggest talent in the sport and Red Bull was reportedly building a championship-winning team with him as the focus. But Windsor made a claim, which if Ricciardo agreed to back then, could have made him stay.

“Yes, there were some areas where Max was going to be better than Daniel. But Daniel is very very good in a lot of areas. He would have been better than Max in a couple of [years] early on, for sure.”, he added.

Instead, Windsor reminded how Ricciardo chose the Renault project. Going from a top team to a team fighting for points shattered his killer instinct and confidence. And since then, Ricciardo hasn’t tasted success at a similar level anywhere.

Daniel Ricciardo looking to get back to form

After leaving Renault in 2021, Ricciardo endured two painful seasons at McLaren which lost him his place in F1. In the end, it was Red Bull who helped him find a seat again; through V-CARB, its sister outfit.

 

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So far, however, the 34-year-old has failed to light up the track with the level of performance many know he is capable of putting in. Still, he has shown signs of improvement over the last few races, considering how woeful his start to 2024 was.

Since his chassis change in China, Ricciardo has been fighting for points, which is V-CARB’s goal. However, despite the new chassis, the Aussie could not capitalize on its potential after crashing out due to no fault of his own in Shanghai. He was in a points-scoring position but Lance’s Stroll error forced him to retire.

Ricciardo had to put his best foot forward in Miami and scored his first points of the season in the sprint race. Most recently at the Canadian GP, he finished P8 (after getting P5 in qualifying), earning four valuable points for the Faenza-based outfit.