Daniel Ricciardo Reveals His High Expectations from Renault for the Remainder of the F1 Season

It has been a season of marked improvement for both Daniel Ricciardo and Renault. The 2019 season felt like a dampener, with the team failing to get anywhere close to the midfield rivals.

However, they have come back strongly in the 2020 season. Despite a sluggish start and middle phase, Renault’s last three races have given them joy and they are also quite keen to finish on a high.

Ricciardo believes that they can still give it their all in the final few races. While McLaren and Racing Point are right in the mix of things, there is some reason for optimism.

Daniel Ricciardo believes Renault can still “pull it off”

Speaking in a brief interview, Ricciardo stated, “For sure now we’re the underdog, but it’s still doable, and there’s still three races.

“If there was only one race left, or even two, I’d certainly be a bit more pessimistic. But we can still do it,” he added.

 “It’s obviously a shame that there was a big swing [in Turkey]. It does sting, we can’t deny that. But with three races to go I think we still have a chance to pull it off.”

As it stands, Racing Point are the favorite to claim the coveted P3 position on the table. However, the 31-year-old Australian hopes that their drivers, Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez, do not stack up on points in Bahrain and the races to come.

“And although the races will probably be dry, they’ll still be a bit going on. We know Bahrain, it’s a tight turn one. So maybe Sergio [Perez] and [Lance] Stroll want to get into each other! We’ll see,” concluded Ricciardo.

Renault cannot afford any more retirements in the upcoming races

One big issue for Renault has been their inability to put both drivers as much as in front as possible. While Ricciardo has brought home the majority of points, Esteban Ocon also needs to help his partner to the best of his ability.

Quite recently, Ocon has been facing a few troubles with his car’s power unit and exhaust outlets. This has, sometimes, forced him to go to the back of the grid or worse, retire from the race itself.

In these last three races, Renault’s on-ground team of engineers, mechanics, and strategists need to be very wary of that. For otherwise, they will most likely fail in their quest to attain P3 come the end of the season.