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Daniel Ricciardo has bid farewell to the Red Bull team at his final visit to its factory in Milton Keynes. Ricciardo leaves the energy drink squad after joining the senior team in 2014, having been part of its junior programme since 2008.
Ricciardo announced in August that he would be joining Renault, signing a two-year deal with the French outfit. Ricciardo has picked up seven wins and 29 podiums in his time with Red Bull, but has not been able to get close to the championship challenge he has been seeking.
His last day as a Red Bull driver in the factory began with riding drift motorcycles around the facility with teammate Max Verstappen. He then signed autographs for the members of the team, before he was presented with his parting gift - a KTM 350 SXF motorbike.
In his last Grand Prix for Red Bull in Abu Dhabi, the Australian led a number of laps before making his one and only pit stop. Despite attempting a resurgence onto the podium places, he had to settle for fourth place, behind Verstappen.
Ricciardo joked that the attention he received in his final days at Red Bull made him realise that he is not ready to quit F1 just yet: “It’s been cool,” said Ricciardo. “What I think is helping me not think about it too much is that I'm not retiring.
"If I was retiring, I think it would be a different story," he added. "I'm just moving next door, so to speak. It's certainly made me realise, though, that I'm not ready to retire. The way some people talked about it, I was like, 'I'd hate to be retiring right now!’”
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (2)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Sad to see him go. Ric is probably one of my favourites on the grid, both a good driver and a pleasant fella (AFAIC), and while I will cheer for RB next year, I'll find it a bit harder to do due to the fact that I dont really like any of the prominent characters there now. Max is a great driver but still too immature for my liking, Gasly seem to be on a similar note, and both Marko's and Horner's toxicity is on an LD50 on par with botox. I like the team and like their car philosophy, and anything Honda makes me scream "F***ing sold!", but still.
blade
Posts: 341
Calle totally agree on Marko and Horner - both make my skin crawl and I cannot forgive how they trashed Renault (publicly), poor and no class.