Only weeks ago, Red Bull’s Christian Horner stated that Daniel Ricciardo was ‘near’ to signing a new agreement with the club. However,
on August 3rd, in ‘one of the most painful decisions’ of his career, if not the ’29 years alive on this earth’, Ricciardo confirmed his
resignation from Red Bull and his move to Renault on a two-year contract.
This season, there has been a lot of speculation regarding his future, and he has previously been connected with Mercedes and Ferrari, but
has only spoken with McLaren and Renault.
Ricciardo will partner Nico Hulkenberg at Renault, replacing Carlos Sainz Jr (who is leaving to join McLaren to replace the retiring
Fernando Alonso). He should be conversant with Renault engines, which Red Bull used between 2007 and 2015.
It is a risky move to leave the team where he has spent the first decade of his Formula One career. Ricciardo joined Red Bull Racing’s
Junior Programme in 2008, and in 2011, the team contracted him out to Hispania Racing (the now-defunct HRT), where he made his
Formula One debut at Silverstone and raced 11 times that year.
He drove for Toro Rosso between 2012 and 2013, before taking over for Mark Webber at Red Bull in 2014. In his debut season with Red
Bull’s Formula One team, he finished third in the Drivers Championship.
Ricciardo, who is popular among fans, has won 7 races for Red Bull, including two this season in China and Monaco, and has 29 podium
finishes in all. He now ranks fifth in the Driver’s Championship, with 118 points.
Christian Horner, Team Principal, stated, “We fully respect Daniel’s decision to leave Red Bull Racing and wish him all the best in his
future.”
However, Red Bull’s racing advisor Helmut Marko appeared perplexed by the choice, noting, “I can only assume that maybe he doesn’t
believe in the Honda Project (the team recently signed a two-year contract to use Honda power units beginning next season) or that
Renault offered him a lot of money.” He also stated that Ricciardo was unlikely to conduct his famous’shoey’ victory celebration ‘in the
near future’.
Ricciardo stated that the decision was motivated by a desire to take on new challenges. I understand that there is a lot ahead for Renault
to fulfill their goal of competing at the highest level, but I have been impressed by their improvement in only
