Breaking news
Formula 1
Ricciardo says Renault's recent form has "ignited a fire"
Daniel Ricciardo says Renault's recent run of form has "ignited a pretty nice fire" inside the team, which he says reminds him of qualities that make Red Bull so strong.
Jonathan Noble
Published: Jun 20, 2019, 4:51 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Australian has helped deliver a run of strong qualifying and race results that have helped lift Renault to fifth in the constructors' championship, ahead of the debut of a major car update in France this weekend that it hopes will improve things even more.
On the back of some difficulties earlier in the campaign with reliability, Ricciardo is delighted about a new-found belief that has emerged at Renault, especially after a double points haul in Canada.
"It was important for sure," said Ricciardo about that Montreal result. "I think it had slowly been coming. We'd started putting a string of Q3s together.
"I think we were slowly releasing that weight. But I think just for the team as well, not only did it give a bit of 'alright', but it also I feel ignited a pretty nice fire.
"I think the team tasted their first taste of a pretty big result in a while, especially the qualifying. Nearly getting interviewed after qualifying - even getting a sniff of that was good to see.
"Obviously the competitor in me always wants that, that's always there, but seeing it within the engineers and the mechanics and everyone, everyone just had a buzz about 'em. So that was nice."
Read Also:
And while Renault still has a way to go before it can match the results of Ricciardo's former team Red Bull, the Australian says he is witnessing inside Enstone the start of a growth of confidence that his old outfit had.
"I think the biggest thing, and I'm seeing it now evolve as well, is that when I went to Red Bull they'd just won four straight titles," he said. "So I walked into a team with a certain level of confidence and, not arrogance, but confidence which can sometimes be seen as arrogance.
"But they knew they were the best, everything about them and whatever. So there's that kind of level of confidence, and I guess here, it's taken a bit of time to get that.
"It's even just the way the team responds to a fight on the track or a good result. Instead of just a little clap, it's like 'come on!' get some fire going, and I've seen already that transform from the first few races.
"I think they're starting to realise that bigger things are possible, and that's creating a bit more atmosphere in the garage."
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
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Verstappen "talking" to father about joint Le Mans entry
Next article Coy Vettel doubles down on Canadian GP incident
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo shares heartfelt message after first Indy 500 visit brought back "childhood feelings"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya GP
Daniel Ricciardo shares heartfelt message after first Indy 500 visit brought back "childhood feelings"
Lando Norris reunites with Daniel Ricciardo for Indy 500 celebrations after disastrous Canadian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Canadian GP
Lando Norris reunites with Daniel Ricciardo for Indy 500 celebrations after disastrous Canadian GP
Daniel Ricciardo says life feels "more real" after abrupt F1 exit
Formula 1
Formula 1
Canadian GP
Daniel Ricciardo says life feels "more real" after abrupt F1 exit
More from
Renault F1 Team
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
“I went back to the car and cried” – Esteban Ocon opens up about his unexpected year on F1 sidelines
Formula 1
Formula 1
“I went back to the car and cried” – Esteban Ocon opens up about his unexpected year on F1 sidelines
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Formula 1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Latest news
Carson Hocevar says Zane Smith feud is "pretty one-sided"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
1 h
Carson Hocevar says Zane Smith feud is "pretty one-sided"
Jack Miller says Australian GP cancellation “tough to swallow”: “It is pissing me off”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
Jack Miller says Australian GP cancellation “tough to swallow”: “It is pissing me off”
Max Verstappen reacts to COTA boss: "He can drive my car, after five laps he won't be able to walk"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
Max Verstappen reacts to COTA boss: "He can drive my car, after five laps he won't be able to walk"
Sammy Smith just pulled off a rare Talladega feat not seen in over twenty years
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Talladega II
2 h
Sammy Smith just pulled off a rare Talladega feat not seen in over twenty years
Feature
Discover prime content
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
Subscribe