Prost: Renault were surprised Ricciardo wanted to join

Renault advisor Alain Prost reveals that his side were surprised when Daniel Ricciardo agreed to sign for the team for 2019.

Prost admitted that Renault officials were left a bit shocked when Ricciardo decided that he'd be a Renault driver for next season but he says that the Red Bull driver is aware of the challenge he has to try and get the French team back to the top of the F1 grid.

The move did come to a surprise to most fans, with the Aussie claiming he wants to move somewhere for a better chance of winning titles.

Prost was speaking on Formula One's official podcast - Beyond The Grid, and said that it is too early to expect Renault to be challenging "the big three", but revealed that Ricciardo is aware of the long-term project they have at Renault.

"It's maybe a little bit too soon, because we are not there (at the front)," Prost admitted. "But when we talked to Daniel, it was a very frank discussion that means he knows everything. He has seen everything.

"He knows that he cannot be world champion next year. We are going to be better, for sure, but it will take time.

"We were a bit surprised when he said 'yes, I want to come.' He's going to also allow us to push the team to become even better and better all the time. So there's a little bit more pressure on the team because of him. But in the end it's positive pressure."