Daniel Ricciardo Brings Positive Energy – Renault Boss

Today we take a look at an interesting interview published this morning by Auto Motor und Sport with Renault Boss Cyril Abiteboul. Renault sports director Cyril Abiteboul looked back on a year of ups and downs, where the team could improve and where it has improved. he also revealed his thoughts on the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo and how they could benefit from that.

He was asked about his opinion on what Daniel Ricciardo can bring along with his speed and experience, to the team. “His laughter and his positive attitude”, he said. Daniel Ricciardo, as we all know, is making a move to Renault as he ends his partnership with Red bull. “That may have been a bit absent for our team. Sometimes you need a bit of fresh wind and energy. It certainly has its reasons why Red Bull Ricciardo did not allow us to test our car in Abu Dhabi”, he said.

“They probably do not want him to give us any good tips early on in which direction we can improve the car. All the beating that Red Bull puts in our way shows me that we are heading in the right direction”, he added. He also spoke about how they could challenge Mercedes for the constructor’s title. He spoke about how they have been operating at a far more lower budget allocation than their rivals. “Exactly where Liberty wants us. That’s about the budget we’re operating on and about 60 percent less than what Mercedes is spending. That’s a handicap. But when the budget cap comes, this handicap becomes a strength”, he said.

He went on to berate the amount of money that the top teams spend on the car, and said that it is unfair and has to be looked into by the governing bodies, to ensure a fair competition among all the teams, and not just be partial to the wealthy ones. “To catch up with what Mercedes is currently spending would be a huge challenge”, he said. “The numbers that the top teams spend are unacceptable. We have to protect these teams from themselves.