Formula 1: Daniel Ricciardo signs two-year contract with Renault

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo was confident that he would be driving for another team in the 2019 Formula 1 season. He will be doing so for Renault.

Daniel Ricciardo will be leaving Aston Martin Red Bull Racing for more yellow pastures come the end of the 2018 Formula 1 season, as the Australian driver is set to partner with Nico Hulkenberg at Renault Sport on a two-year contract starting next season. He had expressed frustration earlier this year when negotiations failed to materialize between his current team or any other appealing suitors.

Ricciardo started his career with the Red Bull Racing squad back in 2009 with a simple one-weekend test session at Circuito de Jerez and another test at Yas Marina Circuit in 2010. He was soon confirmed as the test and reserve driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso, the Red Bull Racing junior team, for the 2011 season.

Ricciardo made his Formula 1 race debut with Hispania Racing (HRT) in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit in 2011. In the 2012 season, he earned his first career full-time Formula 1 ride alongside Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso. He remained with the team in the 2013 season.

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In the 2014 season, Ricciardo replaced the departing Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing, where he became a teammate to four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel. With Red Bull Racing, Ricciardo quickly developed into a driver with first-rate potential on the track and a likable attitude off the track.

While at Red Bull Racing, which is where he has driven ever since the 2014 season, Ricciardo has recorded seven race wins and 29 podium finishes. He always has a cheering section on the podium in order to see his trademark “shoey” after each race win. He managed to place third in the drivers championship standings in both the 2014 and 2016 seasons.

The change of team from Red Bull Racing to Renault to Ricciardo has been announced in a season during which he has been hampered by poor reliability.

In the 2018 season alone, Ricciardo has been forced to retire from the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Austrian Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix, and three of those four retirements came a result of mechanical failures.

When Ricciardo has a car that is able to make it to the end of a race, he can be wildly competitive and has shown as much by taking wins in the Chinese Grand Pix and the Monaco Grand Prix. Will he be able to find the reliability he is looking for with the Renault factory team?

When talking about the points positions of Red Bull Racing and Renault, Ricciardo will have his work cut out for him when he makes the official transition. Red Bull Racing currently sit in a distant third place in the constructor standings with 223 points, 112 points behind Scuderia Ferrari in second (335 points) and 122 points behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport in first (345 points). However, Renault are currently leading the battle for “best of the rest” in the mid-pack against Haas and Sahara Force India. They sit in fourth with 82 points, 141 points behind Red Bull Racing.

A mid-pack super team?

With the mid-pack being so incredibly competitive for points, having a hard-charging Ricciardo, who is famous for “licking the stamp and sending it”, and Nico Hulkenberg, who has consistently scored points through the 2018 season, is an appetizing notion. While Renault are still developing their pace, they have enjoyed significantly stronger engine reliability than that of Red Bull Racing, which will be switching over to Honda power units for the foreseeable future.

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With this being the first major announcement of a driver change in the Formula 1 paddock, look for a line of dominoes to start falling. With Daniel Ricciardo moving to Renault, Carlos Sainz Jr. will soon to be looking for a ride. With Sahara Force India in administration and teams in the mid-pack trying to claim competitive drivers, the madness is only just beginning. Where would you like to see which drivers move to in the 2019 season?

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