Daniel Ricciardo “learning a bit” from running in midfield with Renault

Daniel Ricciardo has said that he is still “learning a bit” from driving in the midfield with Renault after several years competing at the front with Red Bull, despite it being frustrating at times.

The Australian was promoted to Red Bull back in 2014 and drove for them for five seasons until the end of 2018, opting to switch to Renault for 2019.
 
The switch was certainly a change from what he was used to, having won seven races and finished on the podium 29 times, to go and battle for the ‘best of the rest’ title.
 
“It is tight [in the midfield] and at times frustrating because sometimes a tenth puts you three or four spots back,” explained Ricciardo as quoted by MotorsportWeek.
 
“But when you get that tenth it puts you three or four spots forward. It feels like a real battle and most of the time a person being the best of the rest feels like they actually won something on the weekend. There is that internal battle.
 
“It has also allowed me to work on my lap one race craft. My race craft in general, my overtaking and that through the race, isn’t bad. But my lap one stuff, now starting in the midfield, there have been times when I have not made the best decisions going into Turn 1, and after the fact I’m like I could have done that better.
 
“So I am learning a bit being in the midfield. That’s cool."
 
Despite the achievements Ricciardo had made during his time with Red Bull he feels that getting the most out of a race weekend is the better feeling.
 
“I’ll always leave a race track happy and fulfilled if I know I’ve got everything out of it,” he added.
 
“I won’t lie, that is heightened by taking home a trophy or a bottle of champagne, but there have also been podiums I got where I wasn’t actually completely satisfied with how I drove.”