Daniel Ricciardo says he is "stoked" he could lift Renault to some impressive results in 2020 as he prepares to set sail for McLaren ahead of next season.<\/p>\n
The Aussie F1 favourite rounded out his final race with Renault Racing this morning with a seventh-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after joining the team in a high-profile move away from Red Bull in 2019.<\/p>\n
After a torrid first year on the grid, Ricciardo defied odds to turn the team's fortunes around amid a COVID-affected 2020, stringing together a series of impressive performances that included two podiums and eleven consecutive points finishes.<\/p>\n
Placing fifth overall in the Drivers Championship, Ricciardo managed to also bag the fastest lap in his final lap ever with Renault, rounding out a memorable few months and a rollercoaster couple of years.<\/p>\n
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"I was pretty stoked, I think the year, in general, was really nice, it was strong. At the end we pushed for fastest lap so it was a nice little send-off," Ricciardo said.<\/p>\n
"I'm personally happy with how it ended for me. I feel I did all I could, and obviously for me now the bonus is I walk into a team that got third so it's a big day as well.<\/p>\n
"I know we didn't manage to finish third in the Constructors' Championship but, overall, it's been a strong season for the team and compared to last year it's a great step forward.<\/p>\n
"My last lap in the car was the fastest on track and I was pushing hard for that. Very nice! Merci beaucoup to the team for an awesome two years."<\/p>\n
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With McLaren finishing third in the Constructors Championship for the first time in eight years, Ricciardo couldn't have picked a better time to join a team poised to make a play on F1's heavyweights.<\/p>\n
New Mercedes power units will be used in McLaren's vehicles in 2021, and the recent confirmation of a $325 million dollar investment from a US-consortium has the team brimming with optimism ahead of Ricciardo's arrival.<\/p>\n
"Not at all," Ricciardo joked when asked if was eager to join new teammate Lando Norris at McLaren.<\/p>\n
"It's a team that showed so much promise last year, and they've backed it up and some this year. Getting fourth last year was a statement and then getting up to third this year.<\/p>\n
"So, I think it's a team with a lot of momentum. And I'm looking forward to it. I'm not really going to start anytime soon, I just want a few weeks off and switch Formula One off for a little bit, but I'm hanging out to get started mid-January sometime."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"