Webber on Ricciardo's Renault regret: Touch wood, he can get out of it.

Daniel Ricciardo

Webber on Ricciardo's Renault regret: Touch wood, he can get out of it.

It's not gone entirely to plan so far.

Matthew Scott

Wednesday 25 September 2019 14:06

Mark Webber believes Daniel Ricciardo may be starting to regret committing two years to Renault, but says his compatriot must keep his head down and focus on getting back into the fight for race wins and potentially more.

Ricciardo's shock decision to quit Red Bull for Renault sparked a frenzy of driver movement for the 2019 season, with the after-effects still being felt at his former team, where uncertainty remains over Max Verstappen's long-term partner.

The move has not gone as expected so far for Ricciardo. The season's expectations that the gap would be closed to the top three teams has not been realised and Renault are instead fighting to finish fourth in the constructors' championship ahead of McLaren, who currently hold the spot.

And Webber says Ricciardo may have been better off staying put.

"He was at Red Bull, I wish he stayed there because it is a better package," Webber told Fox Sports.

"Obviously there were some financial terms but Red Bull weren't far off his numbers anyway.

"He could be regretting that two-year phase now, but he's got to get back out of [regret] now.

"Young guys come in and the landscape changes really fast in two years. You think, 'yeah, I'm cool, I've got a bit of time'. Next minute, people come along.

"Touch wood, he can get out of it."

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Ricciardo himself recently hinted that he may not show the same patience with Renault as he did at five years at Red Bull.

He told Channel 4: "If we went backwards from this year, then it wouldn't have been where I'd expect to be and then…

"Now this whole move to Renault. Ideally I re-sign in 2021 and that's because things are going forward and we've got a real chance. If it goes backwards and for whatever reason it doesn't look positive then I guess I'll cross that bridge."