Daniel Ricciardo, Renault, Albert Park, 2019

Ricciardo keen to put “frustrating” home race behind him

2019 Bahrain Grand Prix

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Daniel Ricciardo says he’s anxious to move on from his difficult start to the 2019 F1 season with new team Renault last week.

Ricciardo was out-qualified by new team mate Nico Hulkenberg and wrecked his race within moments of the start when he tore the front wing off his car on a bump.

“I’m keen to put Australia to one side,” Ricciardo admitted. “It was a pretty frustrating weekend overall, even more so as the pace was clearly there for a good result.

“In qualifying, I personally felt I left something out there, which meant our starting spot wasn’t ideal. There’s not too much to say about the race.”

Despite failing to get either car in to Q3, Renault was among the leading end of the midfield pack in Australia. “Hopefully we can be in amongst it this weekend,” said Ricciardo, “but first we need to ensure we’re quick in qualifying and be at the top end of the midfield.”

Ricciardo also expects the Bahrain circuit will provide a further indication whether F1’s new aerodynamic regulations have helped to improve the race, a subject drivers have given mixed opinions about. “There are some decent overtaking spots on a lap,” he said, “and it will be interesting to see if there’s any difference in cars following each other there especially down the main straight.”

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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20 comments on “Ricciardo keen to put “frustrating” home race behind him”

  1. Good luck to him, he’s the new kid on the block it will take a few races to get into the groove. Been a rumour of some friction on his side of the garage. Hopefully it’s only a matter of getting to know each others abilities and going respect.

    1. Been a rumour of some friction on his side of the garage.

      Already?

      1. I highly doubt that… What are your sources?

        1. @ruliemaulana Any friction that was at RB would have come from the management side of the team, as we have seen from some of the unprofessional remarks made by them since he left.
          @ming-mong I heard it on missed apex, It’s probably just a settling in thing. He’s been brought in on big money displaced a popular driver with a fair amount of hype and expectations are high. Renault need to provide a car that performs, Ricciardo needs to deliver.
          I believe Renault have definitely improved and Ricciardo will earn his place in the team.

          1. displaced a popular driver

            @johnrkh – I thought he replaced Sainz… ;)

  2. DR’s new helmet is starting to grow on me..

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      25th March 2019, 19:45

      Let us know when it has grown to full size and Ricciardo can’t find his new helmet! ;)

      1. My least favourite helmet livery.

  3. RebelAngelFloyd (@)
    25th March 2019, 19:34

    That will turn out well, I guess!!!
    RIC is an experience expert in leaving frustrating experiences behind him.

    2018
    Qualified ahead : RIC 5 vs VER 15
    Finished ahead : RIC 4 vs VER 8
    Share of points : RIC 170 vs VER 249
    laps ahead : RIC 217 vs VER 746 (!!!)

    1. But Danny is an experienced Renault engine “blower.”
      At least that counts for something.

      1. RebelAngelFloyd (@)
        26th March 2019, 7:36

        The nice thing of these Keith stats that it takes the “engine blowing” into account and/ or you can do it yourself
        – quali : no impact
        – finished ahead : only if both finish
        – share of points : indeed impact
        – laps ahead: only if both are in the race

        1. Does it account for Horner & Marko?

  4. How many poles has your Wunderkind got to his name again?

    How many of RICs races were hampered by technical issues, both from Renault and RBR?

    By your stats VER out qualified RIC in 10 races, yet only managed to finish ahead of RIC in 4 of those, and if he qualified ahead so much it would be understandable that his laps ahead were much higher…

    I don’t understand the need to come out and bash RIC every time he appears in a story. You’ll have plenty of time to spew VER’s praises over the next decade. Just chill the flip out.

    1. Orange is the new Red, White and Blue
      26th March 2019, 1:30

      Cower, mere mortal.

    2. RebelAngelFloyd (@)
      26th March 2019, 7:42

      This is not my stat, this is the official RaceFans stat (from the team mates comparison of the 2018 season)

      The nice thing of this stat, is that it takes the engine hampering into account.
      It only takes finishes into account were both finished.
      The same applies for races ahead.
      Wrt quali’s; these are all races (the finished ahead are only the ones were both finished).

      No bashing here.
      Just a plain & simple RaceFan stat with facts.
      Harsh as it may seem.

  5. Those stats mean squat, Ric had mech, team, and a max (moving twice under braking in Baku) issue in MOST races. God he even won Monaco with a issue.
    don’t bring stats to the argument.

    1. RebelAngelFloyd (@)
      26th March 2019, 9:33

      This is not just a ‘stat’.
      It is the official RaceFans 2018 comparison of team mates.

      With room for your own interpretation, your preferences and some cherry picking.
      But als with a bigger picture.

  6. I think Dan will be in for a bit of a frustrating year as I’m sure its harder to go from a top team where the car is well balanced back to one that lacks those characteristics compared to going from a midfield team to a top team.

    I’d imagine that if Lewis or Seb moved to a midfield team they too would experience the same, particularly against a very solid teammate that has had the benefit of a few seasons with the car.

    It’ll take some time, both for him to get fully comfortable with the cars characteristics and for Renault to adjust some things to his liking.

    1. @dbradock Fully agree. I’m sure DR will do fine, it’s just that he is now in a non-top-3 car, and his only option, and he knows it, is chin up, nose to the grindstone, collaborative hard work by the whole team to progress the car into the top 3 category. They have known this all along. DR knew he was signing for a mid-field team but a works team and one with the motivation and aspirations and resources to change that to the positive and get more and more competitive. DR can bring his experience at having Renault pu’s behind him and can communicate to them what he feels with the car compared to what a Newey car feels like.

  7. In qualifying, I personally felt I left something out there

    … and in the race, you did too. Your front wing.

    I looked at Google street view. That paved gap DR hit is a permanent feature of the pit straight.

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