Daniel Ricciardo "learning, being in the midfield" with Renault in 2019 F1 season

Many people questionned Daniel Ricciardo's shock decision to move to Renault at the start of the 2019 Formula 1 season from Red Bull Racing, but the Aussie driver has insisted he is "learning" all of the time in the tight midfield battle.

With incidents more likely to happen at the back of the grid when battling with the rest, Ricciardo has explained the tightness of the midfield pack has helped him learn a lot in his first season for Renault.

"It's tight, and at times frustrating," Ricciardo said to Autosport. "Because a tenth (of a second) puts you three or four spots back. When you get that tenth, it puts you three or four spots forward.

"And it feels like a real battle. I think most of the time the person who's best of the rest feels like they actually won something over the weekend. It's been good, it's been fun. The only thing that I would say sucks a little bit, is that you're more likely to get caught up in the first-lap incidents, being right in the middle.

"That's the only thing which is a little bit, I won't say out of your control, but you're put in that position a bit more often than I was in the last few years. But it's also allowed me to work on my lap one racecraft.

"I think my racecraft in general and my overtaking through the race isn't bad, but my lap one stuff, now starting in the midfield, there have been times where I haven't made the best decision into Turn 1, and after the fact I'm 'I could have done that better'.

"So, I'm learning, being in the midfield, and that's cool."