Renault success was no "fluke" - Ricciardo
Renault success was no "fluke" - Ricciardo
Departing Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo has insisted the success of the team in 2020 was not a "fluke" and was built on the strong foundations laid in 2019.
In his first year with Renault, Ricciardo finished inside the top-10 only eight times. However, this year proved more fruitful as the Australian scored two podium finishes and finished fifth in the drivers' standings.
Ricciardo, who decided to move away from Renault to McLaren in the pre-season driver shuffle with the French manufacturer announcing Fernando Alonso as his replacement, summarised his second year with the team had been a success.
"If I’m to generalise it, I would say it has been a success but I guess there are levels of success," he said.
"Obviously, real success would be winning a title in the two years but definitely stepping on the podium a couple of times made it feel like a success.
“It’s not as though we fluked a couple of results. I really believe we were there and we persisted. There were so many fourth places and then we finally made it happen.
“But I think the turnaround as well, to see the step from last year to this year, shows that the work that was done last year, the building blocks, definitely came to fruition and we definitely got a lot of use out of that learning from 2019."
Prior to Ricciardo's first podium of the year, scored at the Eifel Grand Prix, the Enstone based team had last finished inside the top three in the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix with Romain Grosjean - the team running as Lotus.
For Renault, the wait had been considerably longer with Nick Heidfeld last bringing home silverware for a third-place finish in the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Renault will be rebranded as Alpine for 2021 and Ricciardo believes the team he is leaving behind is a lot more confident than the one he joined in 2019.
“Obviously, I'm not claiming it all but some feedback I was giving and trying to help out and everyone was trying to move forward but yeah, I see it as a success from that point of view," he added.
“I see a lot more confidence in the team as well, just in terms of personnel and there is that feeling now of ‘we can do it’.
"It felt like I walked into a bit more of a timid environment last year early on and it’s not a criticism, it’s just the team wasn’t used to it.
“They hadn’t been successful in quite a few years and everyone can obviously start to have some self-doubts."
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Ferrari announce DRASTIC change as Verstappen issues dire warning to bosses - GPFans F1 Recap
- 1 hour ago
Hamilton sends strong message over Gaza deaths
- 2 hours ago
F1 giants announce name change with IMMEDIATE effect
- 3 hours ago
Horner admits Red Bull at MAJOR disadvantage with new rules
- Yesterday 20:57
Horner reveals 'unhuman' Verstappen secret
- Yesterday 19:57
Sainz manager speaks out on 'game playing' over contract
- Yesterday 18:57
Related news
Ricciardo boss in 'super disappointing' claim amid RB stars' performance
Horner delivers threat to Ricciardo over Red Bull pressure
Marko suggests 'exciting' move to REPLACE Ricciardo
Ricciardo SNUBS team-mate in 'pressure' claim
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860