Daniel Ricciardo 'excited' to work with Esteban Ocon in Renault Formula One team as Renault launch the R.S.20

Renault

Ricciardo 'excited' to work with Ocon as Renault launch the R.S.20

Ricciardo predicts a smooth preseason

Sam Hall

Wednesday 12 February 2020 15:53

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Renault have launched the R.S.20 at an event in Paris but the what the car will look like, especially the livery, remains largely unknown as the team released a series of closeup images of an all-black car. The team have replaced Nico Hilkenberg with Frenchman Esteban Ocon for the season and he will partner the returning Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo enters his second year with Renault, having previously raced with the Red Bull team, as the senior driver. As was the case when Max Verstappen joined the Australian at his former team, the introduction of Ocon sees Ricciardo being pitted against one of the fastest young talents on the grid.

Ocon sat out the 2019 season after his anticipated move to Renault from Racing Point broke down, ironically because Ricciardo won the seat, and Ricciardo is looking forwards to working with the Frenchman.

"I am looking forward to work with Esteban – it’s always exciting to come into a season with a new team-mate," said Ricciardo. "It’s a chance to work with a new driver and develop that chemistry together, and ultimately push each other to be the best we can be.

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"I think Esteban will bring a positive dynamic; he’s young and hungry. He missed out a season in Formula 1, so I think he’s going to be very keen to do well.

With regulations remaining stable between seasons, Ricciardo also predicted a relatively smooth set of preseason tests in Barcelona, adding, "Once I’m in the car at pre-season testing in Barcelona, I’d imagine things will run quite smooth.

"I already know my engineer, what the targets are, what to work on and what the general car characteristics are like so that should mean we can hit the ground running.

"This all means that I can provide more immediate feedback, and therefore it’ll be easier to make those comparisons between the R.S.19 and R.S.20."

Renault have become the fourth team to officially launch their 2020 entry after Haas, Ferrari and Red Bull.