Amid Renault’s Increasing Pace and McLaren’s Troubled Form, Does Daniel Ricciardo Regret His Switch for 2021 F1 Season?

Daniel Ricciardo, earlier this year, signed a deal with the Mclaren from the 2021 season considering the lack of improvement from Renault. Over this season, Renault have grown stronger and have also occasionally outperformed Mclaren. But Ricciardo opens up that despite Renault raising their game in this season, he does not “regret” his move to Mclaren.

Ricciardo reveals that he is happy with Renault’s progress, as it would push his future team to up their game as well. “It’s obviously no disrespect to Renault and where I currently am. But no, I don’t regret it,” Ricciardo is quoted as saying by racefans.net.

“Am I happy to see us progress? Absolutely. And you know all well and good if it means that we’ve got Renault as a competitor next year to push Mclaren further, then that’s good for everyone. So, no, I’m not regretting it.”

There is not much difference between the two teams in terms of points over this season. Mclaren stands at P3 with 106 points at the moment. On the other hand, their rival Renault are in P5 by scoring 99 points. Just seven points separate the two teams as the battle is likely to go on till the last race.

Renault Haven’t Shut Me Down: Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo is happy that the team have hidden nothing from him ever since he signed the Mclaren deal.

“But I’m not unhappy with the progress. I want to be racing at the front. And obviously, every race in F1 is so important. So every chance I get to do it, the sooner the better,” the Australian said.

“So I’m glad we’re making progress. And I feel a part of it is important as well for me, and I guess my growth as a driver. The team haven’t shut me out with anything,” Ricciardo said.

“I’ve been doing simulator and all of it. So it’s been really good to work with them.”

“I know for sure [it’s] bittersweet especially for some guys in the team that I can’t continue on after this year. But I’m going to give it a red hot crack till the last day,” Ricciardo assured.

Mclaren will enter the 2021 season with a new Power Unit supplier in the name of Mercedes. This is likely to be a major boost for the team in terms of pace.