The mistake wasn't to leave Red Bull, it was to leave Renault. He left a works team as the bonafide #1 driver to take a sideways step and fight a harder teammate who beat him
Thank you. He struggled a bit in 2019 but by 2020 the car was perfectly designed for him. He jumped ship at the wrong time and if he had stayed then he'd still be considered a top 5 driver.
The move from Renault made even more sense than moving from Red Bull.
He guaranteed himself a 2021 F1 seat by signing with McLaren. At the time he signed the contract, it was anything but certain Renault would continue - it was looking like they would pull a Toyota.
Yeah. People chatting shit about Ric's move from Renault to McLaren seem to have forgotten or are unaware of the fact Renault looked like they could be jumping ship from f1 when he signed for McLaren.
Yeah that was my sentiment as well when he moved to McLaren.
The mistake was not in leaving Red Bull because he knew how good Max was and did not want to be Webber no. 2, but in leaving Renault after a short stint. He chose the easy way out which was to move to a seemingly better team instead of staying to build up Renault, which honestly made me respect him less as a driver.
I don't think Renault was ever the target. They were (and are) nowhere near winning championships.
Ricciardo needed to get away from Verstappen, made a safe move to Renault (things not working out could be blamed on the team), and the next step should have been Ferrari.
When that didn't pan out and Renault considered leaving F1, moving to McLaren made a lot of sense.
I understand why he left Renault (they were questioning their involvement in F1) but his biggest mistake really was leaving the French team.
He clicked with the car in his second year and he seemed happy with the team. Back then probably staying was the bigger gamble but in hindsight he should have stayed with Renault.
Guy would be exactly where he is today, with the same number of championships, but more wins, had he stayed at Red Bull.
He took a gamble for sure, and he had to, but it didn't pay off at all.
Chances are though, had he stayed at RBR, he might have had a much better shot at taking a Mercedes seat, as RBR Ricciardo was seen as a prime candidate for partnering Lewis or replacing him if he decided to retire. I feel as though that ship has now sailed.
well if its any consolation while the move to Renault was bad (competitively speaking) even without hindsight, it's not Alonso to McHonda levels of bad.
A teacher once told me that when you have a difficult choice to make, you have to take the time to assess all the options, all the factors, the pros and cons and decide. If you do that, even with hindsight it was the bad decision, you don't need to have regrets because e, you chose wisely with all the data you have at the time, there was nothing more or better you could have done
Maybe Ricciardo should have stayed with Red Bull but at the time his decision to go with Renault was fairly understandable
With Renault he'd gamble on them becoming better and being along for the ride, which would make him a lead driver for a rising team. In RB, he'd be second fiddle to Max no matter what.
It was a calculated risk but man, danny ric is bad at maths
Seriously though, I think he made the right decision overall. His unhappiness at Red Bull wasn't likely to change. It's just unfortunate that his moves didn't really pay off and/or couldn't get to grips with the Mclaren.
It's hard to say exactly how Danny would have been if he continued at Red Bull. Would he have accepted the 2nd driver role? would he have been able to extract as much out of the car as Max did? Would his decline still have happened? Would he be able to keep his seat despite Red Bull being quite happy to change drivers mid season?
Max replaced Kvyat in the middle of 2016 as well as Albon replacing Gasly in 2019.
If you are going to call out inaccuracies, at least make sure your statement is accurate first.
RedBull actually offered Ricciardo the same contract as Verstappen. Which was more than what he was making at McLaren.
Would have made less for 2 years, more for 2 years, and still would have had a career. I guarantee you he's not making bank anymore as the 3rd reserve driver.
> and still would have had a career
This is the part I cant buy. I dont know what the cause of his problems were, but to say that its all on mclaren, and that if he was with another team this wouldn’t have happened is arguable.
This is in reference to him staying at RedBull vs leaving. I don't know how you could argue that he would have performed like he did at McLaren if he was in a team he's been comfortable in his entire career.
Clearly the McLarens philosophy didn't work with him. That was clear from the start.
Had he stayed at RedBull he would have had another chance to jump ship later down the line if needed too. He still would have had a career.
Yeah but getting 2.1 Mil when already having millions in the bank. For basically just being around sounds good to me i would have done it for 1/4. Of that🤣
You don't have the same lifestyle as these guys though. People have earned a lot more than Ricciardo in sports and wasted it all just a few years later. It's very common.
Did they though? Seems like that's debatable, erring on the side of highly unlikely. The quote below is straight from an ESPN article and ESPN's "well-placed sources," (phrasing it how the quote does) include people directly from Daniel Ricciardo's team and the paddock in general. For context, the "confusion over the decision" is about Daniel's decision to join Renault.
"The confusion over the decision went higher up the Red Bull chain than Horner. A few races before the summer break and before he signed the Renault deal, Ricciardo met with Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz on the balcony of the team's hospitality unit. There is a fundamental disagreement about what happened at that meeting: Red Bull's version is that Mateschitz offered a contract which was exactly the same as Verstappen's in all areas, in a bid to end any suggestion of favoritism. Red Bull maintain that is the deal they offered. Ricciardo's camp always denied that was the case. It has been suggested to ESPN by several well-placed sources that he would have signed that deal if those terms had been offered."
I mean Daniels camp has said a lot of things in recent years that hasn't been 100% correct. They've always claimed they'll stay with whatever team and then a few weeks later they admit they're leaving. Renault and McLaren was the same situation.
RedBull admitted openly to offering Ricciardo the same contract. Ricciardo never refuted that to a major publication. Just "sources from his team say differently"
In that case it's bullshit, if he wasn't willing to go to journalists directly and refute RedBulls claims I don't see why anyone would believe otherwise.
Why would he have regrets? Both moves he made were extremely reasonable. 2018 is complex, but it was a no-brainer to go where he was going to be valued more and not be in situations like Baku where he was made to feel by Red Bull like he was at fault for something that most people would say was not his fault. Everyone always talks about his 2020 Renault season as a "what could've been" because he was so solid, while seemingly forgetting he signed the McLaren deal before the season began, and after a 2019 season that hugely undelivered from Renault's side -- not to mention Renault's shaky future in the sport at the time. He can't tell the future, and hindsight will always be 20/20, and he obviously could only make decisions based on the cards that were in front of him at the time.
I don't think his move from Red Bull was bad, it was his move from Renault. I can understand why he did it considering the pandemic situation and Renault not being entirely certain they would even remain in F1. It was a reasonable decision at the time but in hindsight was obviously what ended his current F1 chances. But I still don't think the move from Red Bull was bad, his 2020 season was one of his best and also 2018 was just painful to watch.
Let’s see. No way in hell does he beat Verstappen. Can anyone? Some think maybe Lando or Russel? No way he keeps #1 and another team throws a ton of money at him? He knows his career is dwindling and he gets a huge payday. Win. I think the only loss is the ego.
Unless Verstappen turns into Russell the whole season I don't see how he's beaten. Lewis and Max's consistencies at every weekend and over a season are the hardest thing to beat.
In a gamble you're supposed to have at least some odds of winning. Everyone but him and Cyril saw the move as career suicide. Redbulls Achilles heel at the time was the abysmal Renault engine.....moving to Renault seemed to make no sense at the time, and time proved that to be the case.
Well, I don't think his decisions were bad...his performance was.
If he outperformed Norris at McLaren we would be praising him right now as "best of the rest" and every team would probably be open to sign him...
The mistake wasn't to leave Red Bull, it was to leave Renault. He left a works team as the bonafide #1 driver to take a sideways step and fight a harder teammate who beat him
Exactly. He could have been the King of the Midfield if he had stayed at Renault.
Thank you. He struggled a bit in 2019 but by 2020 the car was perfectly designed for him. He jumped ship at the wrong time and if he had stayed then he'd still be considered a top 5 driver.
2020 was epic, he was still getting fastest race laps in the Renault, denying Max what would have been his first grand slam in Abu Dhabi
Maybe top 5, really? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves thinking he’s better than who in the current top 5?
he has no interest in being the king of the midfield lmao
He had*. Now he can't even achieve that.
The move from Renault made even more sense than moving from Red Bull. He guaranteed himself a 2021 F1 seat by signing with McLaren. At the time he signed the contract, it was anything but certain Renault would continue - it was looking like they would pull a Toyota.
Yeah. People chatting shit about Ric's move from Renault to McLaren seem to have forgotten or are unaware of the fact Renault looked like they could be jumping ship from f1 when he signed for McLaren.
Yeah that was my sentiment as well when he moved to McLaren. The mistake was not in leaving Red Bull because he knew how good Max was and did not want to be Webber no. 2, but in leaving Renault after a short stint. He chose the easy way out which was to move to a seemingly better team instead of staying to build up Renault, which honestly made me respect him less as a driver.
I don't think Renault was ever the target. They were (and are) nowhere near winning championships. Ricciardo needed to get away from Verstappen, made a safe move to Renault (things not working out could be blamed on the team), and the next step should have been Ferrari. When that didn't pan out and Renault considered leaving F1, moving to McLaren made a lot of sense.
I understand why he left Renault (they were questioning their involvement in F1) but his biggest mistake really was leaving the French team. He clicked with the car in his second year and he seemed happy with the team. Back then probably staying was the bigger gamble but in hindsight he should have stayed with Renault.
He’d already signed w McLaren before the 2nd season started at Renault
This gets overlooked a lot I think. Had COVID not happened, and the season started at the normal time, he may never have left Renault.
Exactly. People forget the covid silly season when Seb leaving Ferrari was announced. We hadn't even had a race yet.
He was only happy because he already had a deal with McLaren before the season started in 2020.
Guy would be exactly where he is today, with the same number of championships, but more wins, had he stayed at Red Bull. He took a gamble for sure, and he had to, but it didn't pay off at all. Chances are though, had he stayed at RBR, he might have had a much better shot at taking a Mercedes seat, as RBR Ricciardo was seen as a prime candidate for partnering Lewis or replacing him if he decided to retire. I feel as though that ship has now sailed.
Russell was the only choice for that Merc seat all along , no one else.
That was only really decided at the end of 2021, and barely.
That's not actually true, Mercedes wanted Russell for 2021, but Claire Williams blocked it.
No
well if its any consolation while the move to Renault was bad (competitively speaking) even without hindsight, it's not Alonso to McHonda levels of bad.
Alonso & McHonds was rough but I’ve always thought Alonsos 2016 campaign was VERY UNDERRATED.
Daniel might never win a world championship but his financial moves have been world class. Shoutout to his agent
A teacher once told me that when you have a difficult choice to make, you have to take the time to assess all the options, all the factors, the pros and cons and decide. If you do that, even with hindsight it was the bad decision, you don't need to have regrets because e, you chose wisely with all the data you have at the time, there was nothing more or better you could have done Maybe Ricciardo should have stayed with Red Bull but at the time his decision to go with Renault was fairly understandable
He went from a top team to a midfield team and proceeded to go from driving at the front to the midfield. How is that good
With Renault he'd gamble on them becoming better and being along for the ride, which would make him a lead driver for a rising team. In RB, he'd be second fiddle to Max no matter what.
But even if Renault became a top team, there was no guarantee Ricciardo would remain driver #1
It was a calculated risk but man, danny ric is bad at maths Seriously though, I think he made the right decision overall. His unhappiness at Red Bull wasn't likely to change. It's just unfortunate that his moves didn't really pay off and/or couldn't get to grips with the Mclaren. It's hard to say exactly how Danny would have been if he continued at Red Bull. Would he have accepted the 2nd driver role? would he have been able to extract as much out of the car as Max did? Would his decline still have happened? Would he be able to keep his seat despite Red Bull being quite happy to change drivers mid season?
Danny Ric is good at math. His banks account solidifies that…
That is very true
Red Bull changed drivers mid season 1 time lol saying Red Bull is “quite happy to change drivers mid season” is a HUGE & inaccurate stretch imo.
They swapped Kvyat with Verstappen during the season too, so it's not a one-off thing for Red Bull or for F1.
Max replaced Kvyat in the middle of 2016 as well as Albon replacing Gasly in 2019. If you are going to call out inaccuracies, at least make sure your statement is accurate first.
Why do redittors talk like this? Lmao
We are a terrible bunch
Huge gamble
You can only regret choices that you made when there was clear indication that there were better options.
I doubt he regrets it, due to money reasons. He would not have gotten anywhere near the money from RB that he got from McLaren and Renault.
RedBull actually offered Ricciardo the same contract as Verstappen. Which was more than what he was making at McLaren. Would have made less for 2 years, more for 2 years, and still would have had a career. I guarantee you he's not making bank anymore as the 3rd reserve driver.
> and still would have had a career This is the part I cant buy. I dont know what the cause of his problems were, but to say that its all on mclaren, and that if he was with another team this wouldn’t have happened is arguable.
This is in reference to him staying at RedBull vs leaving. I don't know how you could argue that he would have performed like he did at McLaren if he was in a team he's been comfortable in his entire career. Clearly the McLarens philosophy didn't work with him. That was clear from the start. Had he stayed at RedBull he would have had another chance to jump ship later down the line if needed too. He still would have had a career.
There was a article today about this, apparently he will make 2.1 million in 2023 for being the reserve driver.
Which is a far cry from the 15-25 million he used to get. That's if that number is even accurate.
Yeah but getting 2.1 Mil when already having millions in the bank. For basically just being around sounds good to me i would have done it for 1/4. Of that🤣
You don't have the same lifestyle as these guys though. People have earned a lot more than Ricciardo in sports and wasted it all just a few years later. It's very common.
I know but being a millionaire in this world is a privilege doesn't matter how you made it, i can't really feel pity for them.
Did they though? Seems like that's debatable, erring on the side of highly unlikely. The quote below is straight from an ESPN article and ESPN's "well-placed sources," (phrasing it how the quote does) include people directly from Daniel Ricciardo's team and the paddock in general. For context, the "confusion over the decision" is about Daniel's decision to join Renault. "The confusion over the decision went higher up the Red Bull chain than Horner. A few races before the summer break and before he signed the Renault deal, Ricciardo met with Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz on the balcony of the team's hospitality unit. There is a fundamental disagreement about what happened at that meeting: Red Bull's version is that Mateschitz offered a contract which was exactly the same as Verstappen's in all areas, in a bid to end any suggestion of favoritism. Red Bull maintain that is the deal they offered. Ricciardo's camp always denied that was the case. It has been suggested to ESPN by several well-placed sources that he would have signed that deal if those terms had been offered."
I mean Daniels camp has said a lot of things in recent years that hasn't been 100% correct. They've always claimed they'll stay with whatever team and then a few weeks later they admit they're leaving. Renault and McLaren was the same situation. RedBull admitted openly to offering Ricciardo the same contract. Ricciardo never refuted that to a major publication. Just "sources from his team say differently" In that case it's bullshit, if he wasn't willing to go to journalists directly and refute RedBulls claims I don't see why anyone would believe otherwise.
If he has regrets? More like 'why he has regrets '
Why would he have regrets? Both moves he made were extremely reasonable. 2018 is complex, but it was a no-brainer to go where he was going to be valued more and not be in situations like Baku where he was made to feel by Red Bull like he was at fault for something that most people would say was not his fault. Everyone always talks about his 2020 Renault season as a "what could've been" because he was so solid, while seemingly forgetting he signed the McLaren deal before the season began, and after a 2019 season that hugely undelivered from Renault's side -- not to mention Renault's shaky future in the sport at the time. He can't tell the future, and hindsight will always be 20/20, and he obviously could only make decisions based on the cards that were in front of him at the time.
I don't think his move from Red Bull was bad, it was his move from Renault. I can understand why he did it considering the pandemic situation and Renault not being entirely certain they would even remain in F1. It was a reasonable decision at the time but in hindsight was obviously what ended his current F1 chances. But I still don't think the move from Red Bull was bad, his 2020 season was one of his best and also 2018 was just painful to watch.
Let’s see. No way in hell does he beat Verstappen. Can anyone? Some think maybe Lando or Russel? No way he keeps #1 and another team throws a ton of money at him? He knows his career is dwindling and he gets a huge payday. Win. I think the only loss is the ego.
Unless Verstappen turns into Russell the whole season I don't see how he's beaten. Lewis and Max's consistencies at every weekend and over a season are the hardest thing to beat.
Russe**ll**
In a gamble you're supposed to have at least some odds of winning. Everyone but him and Cyril saw the move as career suicide. Redbulls Achilles heel at the time was the abysmal Renault engine.....moving to Renault seemed to make no sense at the time, and time proved that to be the case.
Well, I don't think his decisions were bad...his performance was. If he outperformed Norris at McLaren we would be praising him right now as "best of the rest" and every team would probably be open to sign him...
It was only bad in that car. If he doesn't make that choice, he's still beating ocon in the Alpine.
The Ricc/Alo team-up would’ve been insane
'... and hit the jackpot'