Former Toro Rosso engineer explains why Daniel Ricciardo ‘stuttered’ switching F1 teams

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When Daniel Ricciardo decided to move away from Red Bull in 2018, it was a key moment in the Australian’s Formula 1 career.

It was the first time since joining the grid in 2011 that he would not have the backing of Red Bull, instead switching to the works outfit at Renault.

It came during a pivotal moment of his partnership with Max Verstappen at Red Bull, after spending a season playing second-best to the Dutchman who was their champion in waiting.

The move to Renault was initially a step down given the problems they had on the power unit front, although Ricciardo was confident he could find success. This came at the 2020 Eifel GP at the Red Bull Ring and later the Emilia Romagna GP.

Despite early success, Ricciardo switched to McLaren in 2021 before he was dropped at the end of the 2022 season after failing to hit performance targets. Former Toro Rosso chief engineer, Phil Charles, has explained as to why Ricciardo ‘stutters’ when switching teams when speaking on the JA on F1 podcast.

Why Daniel Ricciardo ‘stutters’ when switching to new F1 teams

Ricciardo’s return to Visa CashApp RB came after impressing in a test with Red Bull following the 2023 British GP when the team assessed its options to replace Nyck de Vries.

Ricciardo took on a different approach, being one of the few drivers on the grid without a physio and instead having performance coach Pyry Salmela, who worked with Daniil Kvyat, help out on weekends.

Although he suffered a setback in the initial races due to picking up an injury during practice for the Dutch GP at Zandvoort, he never really delivered when up against Yuki Tsunoda.

Charles believes it is down to how Ricciardo approaches working with teams and embedding himself in the workforce.

“In Daniel’s case, it doesn’t surprise me that he’s had some slight stutters as he’s changed teams. He built up around his team and grew up using his people skills,” said Charles.

“When you’re in Toro Rosso you’re using the Red Bull sim, so you’re interacting with a lot of those people. He made that stepping stone with the people around him placed very well.”

Daniel Ricciardo receives praise from Renault engineers

Ricciardo has a lot of history with the Renault brand in F1, having taken his first race win with their engines at the 2014 Canadian GP.

When he switched to the team in 2019, he built up a rapport that worked him his favour when the team had to choose its replacement for Fernando Alonso.

READ MORE: The best moments of Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 career including first win and more

Engineers at Renault were full of praise for the Australian according to former team principal Otmar Szafnauer, although the team eventually settled on Frenchman Pierre Gasly.

Producers of the Netflix show Drive to Survive said they were ‘sad’ that he will no longer be part of the series after this season, having also lost Guenther Steiner this year.