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Does Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull Racing? 'Controversial decision'
Following the decision to let Nyck de Vries leave AlphaTauri (Red Bull's sister team, now called Visa Cash App RB) during the 2023 season, Daniel Ricciardo was given a chance to return to the team. The last time he competed for them was in 2013, before he earned a promotion to Red Bull, but another chance at the Austrian team now seems very unlikely for the Australian. Does he regret leaving the team back in 2018?
Similarly to Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo decided to switch a seat at a top team for a project. In 2018, the Australian driver, after five seasons with Red Bull, joined Renault (now Alpine) for the 2019 season. Ricciardo's change did not lead to the same success as Hamilton had at Mercedes, as he only earned two podiums with the French team in 2020 at the Eiffel and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix.
"I don’t look back with regret, but I’m also aware that the decision I made in 2018… it felt like it was the right thing to do. From that point of view, I don’t regret it." the current VCARB driver told DAZN. Red Bull got back to winning ways with Max Verstappen in 2021 in terms of the drivers' championship, and won the constructors' title for the first time since 2013.
"Was it the best decision I made? Would my career look different? Yes. But it doesn’t guarantee I would have won a World Championship or something. But of course that decision was definitely the most controversial one I ever made," Ricciardo continued to explain.
Ricciardo 'sad' with how McLaren departure played out
The Australian then joined McLaren in 2022, but after he was defeated by Lando Norris in back-to-back season, he was let go by the Britons, who instead opted to sign Oscar Piastri to the team. Until this season however, Ricciardo did have McLaren's latest F1 win at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. "Deep down I was still sad if it ended like this… I don’t know if I was ready for that," the driver also talked about his departure from the Woking-based team.
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