Daniel Ricciardo expects Renault to recover from their poor start to the 2019 Formula 1 season and hit their targets. The 29-year-old Australian driver made the surprise decision to end his five-year stint at Red Bull and move to Renault at the end of last year.
Ricciardo’s move came as Red Bull confirmed that they would be switching to Honda engines from Renault ahead of the 2019 campaign. And, while he expected teething problems, Ricciardo has been frustrated to be in the points just once in the opening five races.
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After Renault finished fourth in the 2018 Constructors Championship, they are currently languishing down in eighth position on 12 points. But Ricciardo has no regrets about making the move to the French manufacturers and is backing them to improve the car throughout the course of the campaign.
He told Crash.net: “I knew that we were not going to start off competing for podiums straight away. So I expected a struggle somewhat. And expected work needed to be done. “More personally I’ve felt happy when I’ve made mistakes, more from myside I have not always been that happy with myself.
But where the team stands, I wish we were quicker but I still see a lot of areas where we can keep improving. “I’m still very optimistic that we can still hit the trajectory we were hoping for. We might be a bit behind it for now, but I am not discouraged at all, Ricciardo said.
Also it is definitely too early in the season for me to be discouraged. “Just for the whole morale of the team it is important to address issues that need addressing but you still need to remain positive and confident and optimistic… it is just managing everyone’s motivation.”
