Daniel Ricciardo says his decision to switch from Renault to McLaren for the 2021 Formula 1 season was less clear than when he opted to leave Red Bull.
Ricciardo ended a decade-long association with Red Bull when he signed a two-year Renault deal in August 2018.
But last month it was confirmed that he will join McLaren on a multi-year deal from 2021 in place of Carlos Sainz Jr., who will fill the Ferrari seat vacated by Sebastian Vettel.
“There wasn’t one deciding factor,” Ricciardo told the official F1 Nation podcast.
“It was certainly different to the Red Bull situation. I feel like Red Bull ran its course for me personally, I’d been there a long time, we tried and tried, we won races but not the championship and I needed a change.
“This one wasn’t as clear in as far as yes we didn’t achieve what we wanted last year, equally I wasn’t expecting to win last year, but it was by no means an easy one and time will tell.”
Ricciardo is nonetheless expecting his current and future employers to be battling closely on-track when the 2020 season begins, along with other midfield opponents.
“I certainly expect to be close, all we’ve got now is testing back in February, we had our analysis in figuring out where everyone stands,” said Ricciardo.
“The lead midfield car was really hard to figure out if it was us or not.
“But it looks like I would say at least three of our midfield teams were within a tenth.
“Austria for us last year was maybe our worst weekend so I think if we can come out and be at the front of the midfield I think that looks good for us for the rest of the season but it’s hard to predict.”
