Formula 1: After Daniel Ricciardo signing, no more excuses for Renault

Renault have finally run out of excuses for not doing well in Formula 1 come the 2019 season following the signing of Daniel Ricciardo.

Just days after the Hungaroring finally closed its doors to Formula 1 for the season after the mid-season test, the F1 world was shocked by the surprise announcement that Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo will drive for Renault Sport in the 2019 season after signing a hefty two-year deal with the French marque. The announcement came just days after the 29-year-old Australian issued a new contract deadline for Red Bull Racing after the initial date passed.

Ricciardo in black and yellow in 2019 is a mandate signing for the team. They have gone all-in on the twilight years of the V6 hybrid era just before the new technical and engine regulations come into effect in 2021.

By re-signing Nico Hulkenberg to pair with Ricciardo, Renault are also making it all about the final years of the V6 hybrid era, as they are going with experience and familiarity in the 30-year-old German with the hope that he can score solid points now that he is no longer carrying the team. This should help Renault in the constructor championship while Ricciardo takes care of the driver championship.

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By signing Ricciardo, Renault are now saying that they now have a car to challenge the other factory teams, Mercedes and Ferrari. Ricciardo is just the driver to bring them a championship in doing so.

In reality, Renault have used this script before, spending three years developing a car that would be a giant killer from 2002 to 2005. The only difference is that instead of Hulkenberg playing the role of Fernando Alonso, the experienced driver who finally leads the team to victory after being so long entrenched with them, Renault have hired a new actor, albeit one with equally close ties, in Ricciardo.

Ricciardo has put the onus on the team by moving to the factories team just like contemporaries Lewis Hamilton did in 2013 when he moved from McLaren to Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel did in 2015 when he moved from Red Bull Racing to Ferrari.

Mercedes and Ferrari have since developed the successive cars to better suit their lead drivers. Mercedes have made each successive model be easier on tires while still allowing Hamilton to out-brake his opponents without too much damage. Ferrari have developed each new Ferrari around Vettel’s strengths, and that has helped them pull ahead of Mercedes, according to Mercedes. Renault are now responsible for doing the same for Ricciardo.

Renault can no longer wave off accusations that they do not have a premier driver to compete for points and wins or blame the customer teams for failing to use their engines as recommended, especially given the fact that the retirement rate for the factory team is less than it is for the customer teams so far this season. They also certainly cannot use the “it takes time” argument with the new regulations on the horizon and with three years to develop a car as a factory effort.

The 2019 Formula 1 season is critical for Renault, and they finally need to act. Otherwise, history may look back on Daniel Ricciardo as less of a Lewis Hamilton-to-Mercedes masterstroke and more of a Fernando Alonso-to-Ferrari cash grab.