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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Renault Sport F1 smiles at the livery launch of the Renault Sport Formula One Team RS20 during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
via Getty
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Renault Sport F1 smiles at the livery launch of the Renault Sport Formula One Team RS20 during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
While making the switch to McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo is desperately trying to keep one tradition he had at Renault alive. He had previously placed a bet with Cyril Abiteboul, former team principal of Renault, and is now looking to continue that with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown.
The bet involved the Frenchman getting his first-ever tattoo if the Australian were to finish on the podium in any race in 2020. This was aimed at stopping Renault’s podium drought since 2016. The Aussie held up his end of the bet by securing podiums at Nurburgring and Imola, but Abiteboul is yet to act on his end.
Now, Ricciardo is keen on setting a new bet with Brown, but he will have to come up with a new idea.
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Daniel Ricciardo jokingly bets McLaren CEO Brown for one of his cars
In a video on McLaren’s YouTube channel, the Aussie was pictured joking around with Brown. He said, “I feel really bad because I made a joke last night.
“‘Cause they wen’t like ‘oh, you did a bet with Cyril about a tattoo, do you wanna do one with Zak?”
“Daniel’s going to try and bet one of Zak’s cars.”
Brown jokingly refused to do the bet, saying, “That’s not going to happen with me though. I hate needles!”
The Aussie replied, “Alright we’ll go with it. I’m gonna steal one of your cars.”
Will the papaya cars make a splash in 2021?
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McLaren have been on an upward trajectory since 2018 and have upgraded in the offseason in terms of machinery and personnel. They have switched to Mercedes power units for 2021 and made a change in the driver lineup as well.
via Getty
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Renault Sport F1 smiles at the livery launch of the Renault Sport Formula One Team RS20 during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Ricciardo was signed with the expectation that he would help the team secure a few victories in 2021 and would hopefully lead them to the world championship in the future.
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However, there are inherent risks in making these changes. The Mercedes power unit may not be suited to them and could lead to a Honda situation. Moreover, Ricciardo’s switch to his previous team, Renault, wasn’t a great success.
So, while the team look to be in a good position, there is a chance that things could go very wrong for them.
