MOTORSPORT: Ricciardo swaps Red Bull for Renault

It’s official: Australian Formula 1 star and carsales.com.au global ambassador Daniel Ricciardo has signed with Renault Sport Formula One Team for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

The seven-times F1 Grand Prix winner leaves Red Bull Racing after more a decade in the Red Bull ‘family’ and four and a half years in the energy drink’s top-tier F1 team in the hybrid era (since 2014).

Ricciardo progressed through the junior ranks in Europe with Red Bull sponsorship, before joining its second-tier Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 team as test driver in 2010 then racer in 2012.

Following the end of his current contract with Red Bull Racing this year, after which RBR will be powered by Honda, the 29-year-old from Perth returns to the Renault family.

Ricciardo, who drove in the Renault junior series between 2007 and 2011 and has been powered by Renault F1 engines since 2014, will team up in the French brand’s factory F1 team alongside current driver Nico Hülkenberg.

Our Dan said his surprise decision to leave the team he started his F1 career with – surprising many who expected him to re-sign with RBR -- was difficult.

“It was probably one of the most difficult decisions to take in my career so far, but I thought that it was time for me to take on a fresh and new challenge,” said Ricciardo today, as he heads off on F1’s summer break.

“I realise that there is a lot ahead in order to allow Renault to reach their target of competing at the highest level but I have been impressed by their progression in only two years, and I know that each time Renault has been in the sport they eventually won. I hope to be able to help them in this journey and contribute on and off track."

Renault Sport Racing president Jérôme Stoll welcomed Ricciardo – the most sought-after out-of-contract driver in the F1 paddock -- to the fledgling factory team and made it clear his mission was to win.

“Renault decided to come back to Formula 1 to fight for world championships,” he said.

“Signing Daniel Ricciardo is a unique opportunity for the Groupe Renault towards this objective that could not be missed. We welcome Daniel’s arrival to our team, still in the making, but more motivated than ever.”

Renault Sport Racing managing director Cyril Abiteboul said: “Daniel’s signing underscores our determination to accelerate our progress towards the forefront of the sport.

“It is also a recognition of the work accomplished over the past two and a half seasons. Daniel’s undoubted talent and charisma are a huge bonus and statement for the team.

“We will have to repay his faith in us by delivering the best car possible. We welcome him to our growing team in 2019 with a great deal of pride, but also humility.”

Ricciardo’s unexpected departure from Red Bull Racing could allow Carlos Sainz or Pierre Gasly – both Red Bull junior drivers, even if Sainz is on loan to Renault this year -- to join RBR, which thanked Ricciardo for his service.

“We fully respect Daniel’s decision to leave Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and we wish him all the best in his future," said Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner.

“We would like to thank him for his dedication and the role he has played since joining the team in 2014, the highlights of course being the seven wins and the 29 podiums he has achieved so far with us.”

Horner said RBR had “numerous options” to replace Ricciardo, although there are rumours Sainz will join McLaren next year.

If Sainz joins RBR, he will reunite with Verstappen after teaming up with the Dutchman in 2015 at Toro Rosso, where the pair had an uneasy relationship. Gasly, meantime, impressed at the Hungarian GP last weekend and has scored 26 of Toro Rosso's 28 points this year.

"We will now continue to evaluate the numerous options available to us before deciding on which driver partners Max Verstappen for the 2019 season,” said Horner.

“In the meantime, there are still nine races left in 2018 and we are fully focused on maximising every opportunity for Max and Daniel for the remainder of the season."

Ricciardo’s surprise defection to Renault at the end of his 2018 contract follows reports he was unhappy that Red Bull will employ Honda power in 2019 and that Red Bull made Verstappen its de facto number one driver by offering the 20-year-old a contract until the end of the 2020 season.

Meanwhile, relations between RBR and its current engine supplier, Renault, have hit new depths.

After Verstappen’s early retirement from the Hungarian GP with a failure in one of two motor generator units – the kinetic one (MGU-K) – Horner said:

“We pay multi millions of pounds for these engines for a first class or state-of-the-art product and you can see that it’s quite some way below that. I'll leave it to Cyril to give the excuses.”

Renault F1 team boss Cyril Abiteboul has since said: “We haven't read what Christian Horner says about us since 2015. It’s very clear that we have nothing to do with them anymore. They have a new engine partner who pays a lot of money to get their product on board, and I wish them good luck.

“We switched to an improved MGU-K in Monaco. Red Bull does not use them because the installation of the car is different. But with the new MGU-K we have the temperatures much better under control and there were no problems in our cars. But we cannot force Red Bull to use it.”

Speculation earlier in the season linked Ricciardo to a move to either Mercedes or Ferrari. However, Mercedes has not only re-signed Lewis Hamilton but extended Valtteri Bottas, while Ferrari’s choice on Sebastian Vettel’s teammate appears to be between retaining veteran Kimi Raikkonen or bringing in Charles Leclerc from its ‘satellite’ team, Sauber, where the 20-year-old is in his rookie season.

The recent sudden death of Ferrari and Fiat-Chrysler chief Sergio Marchionne may have stalled the Italian team’s decision or at least announcement, although it has traditionally waited until September anyway.

Until recently, the general presumption had been that Ricciardo would stick with RBR for another two years. Even this week, reports insisted that Ricciardo staying at RBR remain “a formality”.

RBR had always said its preference has was to retain Ricciardo as teammate to Verstappen, already a four-time GP winner who won’t turn 21 until the end of September and trails Ricciardo by 13 points in the world championship.

They are fifth and sixth in the standings, behind Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen and Bottas.

Ricciardo went on holidays after testing for Red Bull Racing at Budapest’s Hungaroring on Tuesday, two days after his drive-of-the-race in the 12th GP of 2018.

The next GP is on August 24-26 at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, where Ricciardo – who won in Shanghai and Monaco this year -- scored his third F1 GP win, in 2014.

Meanwhile, the ownership of the Force India team needs to be settled before the Belgian GP.

Embattled Indian businessman Vijay Mallya has lost his grip on Force India, with it going into administration on the eve of the Hungarian race – after a move by its Mexican driver, Sergio Perez, who is a creditor of the team, along with engine supplier Mercedes.

There are reported to be five potential buyers for the team, although Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll is now said to be a potential investor – rather than a buyer – as a way of ensuring the career of his driver son Lance, now at Williams.

Among the possible buyers are said to be IndyCar team owner and former racer Michael Andretti with Pieter Rossi, father of Alex Rossi, the American who had a brief F1 career before switching to IndyCar and winning the 100th Indianapolis 500 as a rookie in 2016.

British company Rich Energy had offered to inject substantial money into Force India but failed to provide guarantees when they were sought.