Breaking news

Formula 1

Ricciardo never expected Ferrari to struggle so much

Renault's Daniel Ricciardo is surprised by the scale of Ferrari's Formula 1 struggles through 2020 as it braces for another difficult weekend at the Italian Grand Prix.

Luke Smith

Published: Sep 4, 2020, 8:06 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Daniel Ricciardo, Renault F1 Team R.S.20, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF1000

Ferrari has endured a miserable start to the season that has seen the team slump to fifth place in the constructors' championship, sitting just two points clear of Renault.

Last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix marked a new low point for the team in 2020 as it spent just five laps running inside the top 10, with both Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel failing to score any points.

Ferrari is expecting to struggle once again this weekend at Monza given the high-speed nature of the circuit and its current straight-line speed deficit.

The team has made no secret of the task it faces to turn things around, with Leclerc anticipating the rebuild project could take "years" to complete.

Ricciardo's name has been repeatedly linked to a seat at Ferrari in recent years, but will join McLaren for 2021 to replace Carlos Sainz, who was snapped up by Ferrari to replace Sebastian Vettel.

Sainz has defended his decision to leave McLaren to move to Ferrari for next year despite the team's struggles, saying he is "100% sure" it was the right call.

Asked if he felt like he had dodged a bullet by not joining Ferrari given its current struggles, Ricciardo said that while he had not thought too deeply about it, he was surprised by how far it had fallen.

"It's tough to know really how long this string of results will last for the team," said Ricciardo. "I find it hard to see it lasting too long, but at the same time, I didn't expect to see the results or for them to struggle as much as I have, at least in Spa.

"It was talked about before the weekend that they were going to have a hard time, and it proved very much to be the case. They certainly are in a bit of a spot at the moment.

"I didn't really think that far ahead, if, what, how, why it would look [if I'd joined Ferrari]. From that point of view I can't really answer it. But I'm sure they will learn a lot from this year, and I'm sure they will pick themselves up in a better place for next year."

Read Also:

Ricciardo enjoyed his strongest race since joining Renault at the start of last year in Belgium, finishing fourth and picking up the bonus point for the fastest lap.

Teammate Esteban Ocon followed Ricciardo home in fifth place, marking Renault's biggest one-race points haul since returning to F1 as a works team in 2016.

Renault now sits just nine points of third place in the constructors' standings as it continues on an upward trajectory. But Ricciardo said there was no regret that he was helping the team move forward before leaving at the end of the year.

"Not at all," he said. "I'm certainly keen to keep this train moving, and try and stand on the steps this year.

"I'll put everything I can into it, and next year's another story."

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Italian GP: Latest key F1 technical developments

Next article Mercedes working on solution for Bottas’ numb leg problem

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Exploring Ferrari's 'less than a tenth' US GP update package

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

18 min

Exploring Ferrari's 'less than a tenth' US GP update package

F1 United States GP: Charles Leclerc pips Max Verstappen to top FP1

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

1 h

F1 United States GP: Charles Leclerc pips Max Verstappen to top FP1

George Russell reveals he lost sleep over his own driving, not the F1 championship

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

2 h

George Russell reveals he lost sleep over his own driving, not the F1 championship

F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - Ferrari leads FP1

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

3 h

F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - Ferrari leads FP1

Feature

Discover prime content

Max Verstappen’s words explained: Why Red Bull’s turnaround is so different this time

Formula 1

United States GP

By Ronald Vording

Max Verstappen’s words explained: Why Red Bull’s turnaround is so different this time

Mission control: Inside the FIA and F1's latest answer to football's VAR

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Mission control: Inside the FIA and F1's latest answer to football's VAR

How Kimi Antonelli levelled up his character to be F1 2026's world champion-elect

Formula 1

United States GP

By Filip Cleeren

How Kimi Antonelli levelled up his character to be F1 2026's world champion-elect

Why Oscar Piastri has struggled to show his best with this year's McLaren MCL40

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Why Oscar Piastri has struggled to show his best with this year's McLaren MCL40

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts