Daniel Ricciardo a competitive driver at Red Bull last year decided not to carry on its arrangement with the team. He decided to switch to Renault which promised charming benefits.
According to Helmut Marko, Red Bull Chief Advisor, Renault provided a promising image to Ricciardo that they will be able to provide power plants competitive to Mercedes and Ferrari. This promising notion proved the decisive factor for Ricciardo’s decision for switching to French team.
Recently, Renault and Red Bull re-engaged into war of words which had proved to be the major contention between the two.
This has been sparked again by the comments of Cyril Abiteboul, French team Principal and boss, asserted that they had played major role in the success of Red Bull. Both teams had joined hands where they fetched four world titles for Sebastian Vettel during 2010 to 2013.
“We were extremely happy and Renault has contributed to making Red Bull what it is today by winning four championships in a row,” Abiteboul spoke to autosport.
“From a financial perspective with sponsors, from a technology perspective with talent, recruitment — Red Bull is what it is today thanks also to Renault.”
However, Ricciardo has been dragged to this old dispute of the teams. He is being dragged into dispute because of the Australian decision to switch teams at the end of the last year.
Red Bull refused to continue its engagement with French manufacturer because Austrian company didn’t buy-in on the claims that they will be able to develop and compete the two title rivals Ferrari and Mercedes. Instead the team decided to broke the ties and opt for Honda this season.
Marko expressed that he was able to see through Renault claims but Ricciardo coudn’t manage and believe whatever they were claiming.
He was also shocked that Ricciardo couldn’t manage to land on Ferrari or Mercedes while leaving Red Bull.
“Renault is good at (showing data),” Marko told Motorsport-Total.
He added, “They showed us charts over and over again, showing the engine will be massive next year. He (Ricciardo) will have just believed it.
“The story should read that he decides in the summer, whether he goes to Ferrari or Mercedes or remains with Red Bull.
“That turned out to be very different from what he imagined, and very different from what the Netflix people wanted it to be.
“For me, it looked like everything was fine. We improved the offer and discussed everything he thought was in need of improvement, including personal sponsors he had from Australia, and that was a relatively long conversation.
“After the Hungary test [in 2018], I already guessed that it would be no more.”
