First, we got confirmation that Daniel Ricciardo would be leaving Aston Martin Red Bull Racing at the end of this season. Less than an hour later, it was officially announced that the Aussie would be racing for Renault next year.
Probably the best fighting-type racer in F1 today, Ricciardo has been racing with Red Bull since 2008 when he was a member of their junior team. He made his debut in F1 behind the wheel of a Toro Rosso at the British GP in 2011 and moved to the main Red Bull Racing team in 2014. After the team’s dominant run in F1 was ended by Mercedes that year, they have struggled to compete for the title against the Silver Arrows or the Ferrari racers till date. During this period, Dani Ric has won 7 races including Monaco, 29 podium appearances and secured pole position twice. But for a long time now, we as the viewers have felt that this extremely talented racer has been thwarted too many times by a car that just wasn’t good enough for him to showcase his true abilities.
His statement as attached in the official announcement:
After being powered by a Renault engine in F1 for all these years, Daniel will be racing for the factory team in 2019 alongside Nico Hulkenberg. The Renault Sport team returned to the grid in 2016 and is already the best-of-the-rest as it is fourth in the 2018 Constructor’s championship so far. However, this new signing indicates that Renault wants to compete for wins and championships once again and maybe Ricciardo could do with them what Alonso did all those years ago – become an F1 World Champion.
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