Lewis Hamilton calls Ricciardo ‘brave’

Lewis Hamilton feels Daniel Ricciardo is brave to be joining Renault, a team which may not necessarily guarantee him wins, at least as early as next season. The Australian announced the move last month, shocking the whole F1 fraternity.

“It was by far the toughest decision I’ve made in my racing career but in 29 years living on this Earth, it was actually one of the toughest life decisions I’ve made,” Ricciardo had said.

“I felt it was a time now where it was good for me to move on and have a fresh start somewhere else. I think it will be healthy for me – so excited for what lies ahead with Renault.”

He certainly has the support of fellow driver, Lewis Hamilton. The Brit had made a similar decision to move to Mercedes in 2013, when they were not yet the top team they are today. That experiment turned out quite well for him, as he has won three world championships.

I’m really happy for him,” he said. “It’s always brave to make a decision that’s out of the norm, knowing that people are going to have opinions about it, and still halfway through a season not knowing how the next year’s going to go. 

“It’s an exciting period for him. A lot of people in life are scared of change, of what’s different, and therefore get stuck in a space that’s not their happiest space but they get by.”

“It’s cool to see that Daniel, similar to me, is wanting to elevate himself, wanting to try something new, and learn from it – good or bad, and take the risk.”

Lewis Hamilton and Ricciardo are two of the most entertaining drivers on the grid and are known to be quite courteous towards the other. When a four-time world champion feels a decision is brave, it most certainly must be.

Although the decision may be interpreted as Ricciardo running away from the challenge of Max Verstappen, he insists that it most certainly was not. He reiterated the fact that all he needed was a new challenge and Renault offered it to him.

Meanwhile, the paddock moves to Monza this week as they gear up for consecutive race weekends after the Belgian Grand Prix last week. It’ll be a special home race for Ferrari and Toro Rosso. Ricciardo had raced for the latter early in his F1 career.