Daniel Ricciardo has emphasised that his personal desire for a fresh start was the primary factor behind his decision to leave Red Bull for Renault.
Ricciardo sprung a surprise during the first week of Formula 1’s summer break when it was announced that he would be switching from Red Bull to Renault for 2019.
Ricciardo will leave Red Bull shortly before its change of engine supplier to Honda, and will leave a team that last year handed Max Verstappen a lucrative long-term contract.
But Ricciardo has insisted that his need to experience a fresh start was his motivating factor, as he prepares to join Nico Hulkenberg at the French manufacturer.
“It was a long thought process for sure,” said Ricciardo.
“I guess I’ve been kind of bombarded with the questions already obviously when Max announced his extension it turned a bit of the spotlight onto me.
“I took my time with it, by no means an easy decision at all, I guess I got to a point where I felt I was ready for a change, that was the long and short of it, I was ready for a new challenge, for me personally some fresh motivation.
“That sounds easy saying it like that, it wasn’t easy. I had a few sleepless nights for sure trying to come up with the best conclusion for myself.
“Once I made that decision and pulled the trigger I felt comfortable with it and it feels right for next year.
“I guess there’s a lot of unknowns I guess with everything, the move where I’m going to be next year is still a certain element of risks and unknowns. Nothing was that clear cut.
“For sure Honda still need to really prove themselves at the front, but honestly there wasn’t really one key factor other than really myself and wanting to have a change of scenery I guess.
“It wasn’t necessarily the engine deal or financials or this or that, it was really me.
“Five years with Red Bull Racing, 10 years with the company, obviously it’s been amazing and great, felt like now is that time to take on something new, so that was pretty much how it all ended or how my decision came.”
Ricciardo went on to explain that Renault’s “short-medium term plan looked really encouraging” and that he was impressed by “the reality of the process, not telling me we’re going to win in Melbourne next year”.
Expanding on the timing behind his decision, Ricciardo said: “It’s not something I knew for weeks or months. So yeah it was all pretty much when it got announced right before the break.
“Renault was part of my considerations for a bit of time, they didn’t come out of nowhere on the last hour. I was really torn obviously with what to do and that process took time.
“At the end still on the race weekend in Budapest I wasn’t sure, I did the test on Tuesday, took some time to think about it over the course of the next 48 hours and came to my decision.
“It wasn’t easy, a lot of variables I had to weigh up, but in my mind the key thing for me personally was it was time to make a change.”
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