Ricciardo leaving caused frustration for Abiteboul

Even before the start of the season, there was already a big shake-up of the 2021 grid. Part of this was the departure of Daniel Ricciardo to McLaren, a decision that caused a lot of frustration for Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul.

Abiteboul thought he had brought Ricciardo in for the long term, but that turned out to be slightly different. The Frenchman quickly gave his Australian driver a sneer and said that "mutual trust, unity and commitment are crucial values for a team." In the meantime, Fernando Alonso has been announced as Ricciardo's replacement and Abiteboul has calmed down again.

In an interview with Motorsport.com he says that he does not blame Ricciardo for his departure afterwards. "I know that Ricciardo has been promised many things in the past. Not only by us, but also by his previous team. Daniel is an emotional guy, but he has taken steps in that direction." However, he still regrets that Ricciardo is leaving just now. "I think everyone felt the frustration when the announcement came. I felt that we were making progress. We were taking steps and the car was getting better and better."

Abiteboul now looks to the future with confidence and drew a wise lesson from the situation with Ricciardo. "It is really true that when you change drivers, you take a step back before you can move one forward again. That is what we are seeing this year and it is something that we also want to see in the future; bringing stability. The first year with a new driver is always a bit of an investment for the following years. So we will have to work longer with our drivers if we really want to move forward."