Who’s the number 1 driver at Renault between Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo?

Before the 2019 F1 season started, it was being felt that Daniel Ricciardo was the main man at Renault!

Wondering how?

How on earth was one to expect German driver Nico Hulkenberg to have been positioned as the go-to guy at Renault despite having not had even a podium against his name?

With all due respect to the ‘Hulk’, someone who’s been around even before Daniel Ricciardo arrived in the sport, not having a podium finish, let alone a race win didn’t help the Deutscher’s reputation one bit.

Now, on top of that Daniel Ricciardo, till 2018 was a Red Bull star and Nico, albeit the more experienced hand (at Renault) was in no way deniable. But that, Daniel Ricciardo, was thought to have brought more respectability and power, should one say to the French team was a sentiment everyone felt.

If that’s not right, then probably, fans and critics of both Daniel Ricciardo and Renault may have been living in some la-la land.

To speak the truth, it does appear that while there’s hardly a doubt about Daniel Ricciardo’s talent- it’s his result- that seems to be working against his favor. And this doesn’t mean that he’s lost the world championship. But well, in order to be competing for it, one supposes that the talented Australian- someone with 7 wins against his name- has to get going in the first place.

So far, and there’ve been two races, one each at Australia and Bahrain, Ricciardo has retired from both. While at the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix, the supposed ‘big boost’ to Renault retired owing to a technical malfunction with the car (for which he was in no way responsible), it didn’t help Renault’s cause one bit that on the very same lap as the ‘Honeybadger’s retirement’, they lost Hulk as well.

To top it up, it cannot be hidden for long that being in Daniel Ricciardo’s shoes at this point in time may not be the best experience after all.

But hey, wait, could it be that owing to the slightly lackadaisical start to 2019 that Daniel Ricciardo is already enduring, one is forgetting to note the only man who’s been trying to do his bit for Renault? This, let it be known, is in no way an attempt to dehumanize the man behind one of F1’s finest and most electrifying smiles (Daniel Ricciardo): Nico Hulkenberg.

Truth be told, when the five red lights turn green, then whether one’s a Cyril Abiteboul (Renault’s team principal) or a Toto Wolff, all eyes are fixated upon which driver can take the checkered flag. And so far, while there’s not been someone in a gold-colored racing suit, what’s been rather commendable is that the earnest German, Nico has fought home some handy points for Renault; interestingly the only that the team have managed thus far.

At Australia, it was Nico, not Daniel Ricciardo- albeit racing in his home venue- who drove home fighting and respectable P7, which meant grabbing 6 points. Daniel Ricciardo, on the other hand, had race retired.

That told, while there are 19 more races to go, it does seem that Nico and not Ricciardo (for now) is the one responsible for handling himself and the car better (don’t forget the lucky escape that the two evaded at Sakhir as Ricciardo perhaps clearly touched Nico) but also been the one who seems faster. Wondering how? Well, refer to the qualifying sheets for both races.