Ricciardo Puzzled by Red Bull Atmosphere After Announcement

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo has confessed that the team took the news of his departure pretty well. He expected a sense of “awkwardness” when he returned to action with Red Bull at Spa.

Red Bull expected Ricciardo to pen a new one-year contract after the Hungarian GP. However, the Australian bowled a googly when he called team boss Christian Horner to inform him that he was going to Renault in 2019.

So one cannot blame him for assuming that there would be an awkward atmosphere in Belgium.

“I’m honestly happy to say it was really minimal, minimal awkwardness,” Ricciardo said at Monza. “On Thursday for sure I was expecting some level, whether it was from the team or from the media.

“But I thought even like the press conference, it was pretty tame, and not too many people dug too deep, and I thought everyone seemed respectful and understood.

“I had a chance to see Christian at the factory before the weekend, so I kind of addressed some of the guys then, but with the mechanics and everyone, I think they all understood.

“I think the main thing for them was like, it wasn’t personal, it wasn’t because one of the mechanics pissed me off one day and I was like, ‘I’m leaving’ or something like that.

“I think they just understood, and a lot of people in Formula 1, whether it’s drivers or mechanics, engineers, they will move as some point and switch teams, so a lot of them could in a way relate.

“But yeah it was really, as smooth as I could ask for, and it was quite nice to have that, and I guess just have that level in a way respect, but kind of that level of maturity. It was cool.”

Ricciardo insists that he has had no second thoughts on his decision.

“No. And again, it’s nothing personal. I mean, I’m aware that at the moment the structure and everything at Red Bull is stronger, but I’ve certainly switched part of my mindset to a bit more of a longer-term project.

“But no honestly I felt good once I signed it, and I feel I know what I’m getting into. I’m aware of all that, I’ve thought about it for some time.”