Daniel Ricciardo Warns His F1 Rivals: I’m the Guy to Beat at the Moment

Renault have only grown stronger over the last few race weekends and their primary driver, Daniel Ricciardo, has been enjoying good runs of late. During the press conference, Ricciardo joked that he is the driver to beat at the moment.

The interviewer pointed out that following the two Mercedes

drivers, Ricciardo has scored the highest number of points over the last four races. Ricciardo gave a hilarious response to the statistic. “Yeah, I guess that they’ve been so fine so they don’t really count, do they?” Ricciardo questioned.

“So I’m pretty much the guy to beat at the moment. I’m the guy with a target. So it feels good, it feels great.”

Ricciardo weighed in on his current form of churning out good results more often. “It’s been a good run for sure. So keep it going,” the Australian said. “I’m aware we’ve had good results. But I don’t look into it as far as ‘oh, I don’t feel now a pressure to keep it going’.

“I enjoy getting more and more points and racing upfront. So absolutely the intention is to remain that guy.”

Ricciardo is currently P6 on the Drivers’ Championship table. However, he is just 1 point behind Alex Albon and a couple of points off McLaren’s Lando Norris.

If he manages to continue his current run of form until the end of this season, he could finish the season in P4, just behind the Mercedes drivers and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Daniel Ricciardo over the last four races

Ricciardo’s impressive run in the last four races secured him a tally of 43 points. At Belgium, he finished the race in P4 and also scored a point for the fastest lap. He showcased his car’s true pace by finishing just 3 seconds behind Max.

Later in Italy, in one of the most bizarre races, the Renault driver finished in a decent P7. Then, at the Tuscan Grand Prix, he almost earned his first podium with the Renault as Albon stole the podium during the latter part of the race. Eventually, he had to settle for a P4, which was still an appreciable performance.

During the latest race at Sochi, Ricciardo secured P5 despite getting a penalty mid-way through the race. Renault have upped their game since the race weekend at Belgian Grand Prix.

And if they could keep improving their pace over the rest of this season, Ricciardo could end up fighting for podium spots and conclude his time with Renault on a high note.