Ricciardo: Red Bull haven't changed in five years

Daniel Ricciardo says he would be no better off if he had rejected Renault to remain at Red Bull in 2019, pointing out the lack of progress made by his former employers in the V6 Hybrid era.

With Max Verstappen's power growing at Red Bull, and the chance to switch to one of F1's works teams, Ricciardo took the plunge with Renault, who are targeting a title challenge in 2021.

Naturally, Ricciardo has dropped behind Red Bull in the order this year, even McLaren have emerged ahead of the French team to sit best of the rest midway through 2019.

However, the Australian remains satisfied with his decision to leave, pointing out that Red Bull's campaign so far has not been so stellar, even compared to recent seasons in which he was part of the team.

"People often come to me: 'Look at Max, he's on the podium and you don't even get close to it,'" Ricciardo told Formule 1.

"But do you know what it is? I am not saying this to get at Red Bull, but they are doing exactly the same as the past five years.

"Last year Red Bull had won three races around this time, now they have just taken the first win [Verstappen's victory in Austria].

“So I would not have been better off if I had stayed with Red Bull. That is also my point: unless you drive for Mercedes, as a driver you can never be completely satisfied, because Mercedes dominates.

"I certainly do not regret my switch to Renault.

[Results are] not yet great, but I am very happy with the team and with what I see here. And most importantly: I am happy with myself and with what I do, what I am trying to build up here with the engineers."

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