15 November 2023 , 15:09
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Daniel Ricciardo was labelled "selfish" by former Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul for quitting the team for McLaren.
Ricciardo joined Renault from Red Bull ahead of the 2019 season, seeking a fresh challenge after the emergence of Max Verstappen. But he spent just two seasons with his new team before quitting for midfield rivals McLaren.
And that decision was announced very early in 2020, after the start of the season had already been delayed due to the start of the pandemic. Speaking on the Dans La Boîte à Gants podcast, Abiteboul spoke of how he took Ricciardo's decision to leave as a "personal rejection".
He said: "He made his decision in April or May. The world is at a standstill, we don't know how we're going to get back on track, if we're going to get back on track. In fact, I think it's a very early move, a bit selfish, because in the end, it will have given the team just one season's chance and so it's true that it's a decision that I took badly."
Ricciardo scored two podiums during his Renault spell and went on to achieve an even greater height with McLaren, winning the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. But it was one of few highlights in a dismal two seasons with the team for the Aussie.
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He was supposed to spend three years with the team but it was becoming more and more clear that a change was needed, for the benefit of both parties. Referencing that split, Abiteboul went on to express his belief that Ricciardo has a habit of making rash decisions.
"The team was in the process of structuring itself and getting organised," he said. "We were making progress, but that means we were not at Red Bull's level. He came from the standard environment, Red Bull, and so inevitably there was a feeling of being demoted.
"I don't think [Ricciardo] could have imagined the [Renault] car making such progress, and neither could we. I can also understand his strategy. McLaren sold him a bit of a bill of goods to get him, but that's part of the game. Ricciardo always has a timing problem – he left us too early and he left McLaren too early."
Now 34, Ricciardo is back on the grid and impressing with AlphaTauri in the hope of earning a future return to Red Bull. This weekend he races at the Las Vegas Grand Prix which has plenty of hype for the things that are going on away from the racetrack, but the Aussie has vowed to keep focused on the job at hand despite all that noise.
He said: "It's the balance of obviously trying to promote the weekend, promote the race, and also enjoy some of the extracurricular things. The bottom line is I'm there to race and that's the thing I need to prioritise and focus on, especially now we've closed the gap to Williams. Getting points is so crucial and critical."