Ricciardo is "the clown of the paddock"
F1 News
Daniel Ricciardo had a pretty disappointing year by his standards in 2019, with his move to Renault not having the desired outcome, with the Aussie only scoring 54 points. Despite this, he has kept up his happy attitude, but should he maybe trade some of the jokes for more seriousness?
Ricciardo achieved a best finish of fourth in 2019, at the Italian Grand Prix, but the Renault package was not as competitive as rivals McLaren, leading to the French team missing out on P4 in the constructors' standings.
Outperforming Nico Hulkenberg was a good return for Ricciardo, who will be joined by Esteban Ocon at Renault next year, but Dutch commentator Olav Mol believes that Ricciardo's arrival at Renault did not strengthen the team.
Mol told Dutch publication Formule 1: "Being the clown of the paddock is not enough.
"In Brazil he came from the back to the front, but other than that I didn't see enough 'real Ricciardo' moments. I did not see him make Renault better.
"In my view he should be less cheerful and instead hit the table with his fists more often."