What Renault engineers told Otmar Szafnauer about Daniel Ricciardo

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Daniel Ricciardo has likely ended his Formula 1 career after the Singapore Grand Prix, following the decision from Red Bull to replace him for Liam Lawson for the remainder of 2024.

The Australian was racing with the Red Bull sister team after being ousted from McLaren at the end of 2022, owing to inconsistent performances on track.

Prior to that, Ricciardo made the switch from Red Bull to Renault at the end of 2018 where he embarked on a new journey with the French manufacturer and his first works team in F1.

They aimed to achieve championship success but they could only manage a handful of podiums before he switched to the Woking squad in 2021.

When Alpine was on the hunt for a driver to replace the outgoing Fernando Alonso and following a contract dispute with Oscar Piastri, then team principal Otmar Szafnauer revealed he considered bringing Ricciardo back in when speaking on the High Performance podcast.

Renault engineers praise Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo has a lot of history before joining the Renault team having taken his first win in F1 under their engine power in 2014.

This was when Renault was a supplier to Red Bull, although the team would later go on to switch over to Honda engines due to the poor power and reliability.

The rapport that Ricciardo built up with the Renault engineers was something that worked in his favour when the team considered their options before eventually landing on Pierre Gasly.

“I got to Alpine after both Daniel and Hulkenberg left and we had an empty seat before we got Gasly in. On our list [again] was Daniel and Hulkenberg,” said Szafnauer.

“I remember talking to the engineers at Renault and they’re all singing Daniel’s praises, how quick he was, he was quicker than Hulkenberg, and Hulkenberg and Daniel were neck and neck until towards the end, then Daniel got the better of him. I don’t know what happened.”

Daniel Ricciardo ‘rapid ascent’ a warning for Max Verstappen

The career trajectory of Ricciardo mirrors something similar to Sebastian Vettel, in that he had a short-lived period at the top of his game in F1.

Although Vettel made the switch to Ferrari to mimic his hero Michael Schumacher, it ultimately did not yield title success before he retired at the end of 2022.

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

Ricciardo is unlikely to get a seat back on the grid for the short term, although some teams might be open to his services when the new rules come into play in 2026.

Commentator Alex Jacques used both Vettel and Ricciardo as an example to warn Max Verstappen that he could face a similar fate when he eventually moves away from Red Bull.