Australian GP: F1 needs Daniel Ricciardo on podium, says Martin Brundle

Formula One pundit Martin Brundle isn’t expecting Daniel Riccardio to work any miracles for Renault this season.

Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo has yet to score a podium finish for the French team. Picture: Getty Images

Formula One expert Martin Brundle says the sport needs Daniel Ricciardo back on the podium, but he is not expecting the Australian driver’s Renault team to spring any surprises with major performance gains to make that happen this year.

The British former F1 driver said Ricciardo would be in the conversation as a potential winner at this weekend’s season-opening race at Albert Park —if he was still racing for Red Bull.

But Brundle said he could not say the same for his prospects in the Renault, for a season that will start under a coronavirus cloud.

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“Renault are playing it down and saying we are focusing on the big changes of next year. They have had some personnel changes, but they can’t make a difference. It takes two or three years to feed in a difference in this sport,” Brundle said.

“I don’t think any of us are sitting here thinking that Renault are going to surprise us and be out front. We need to see Daniel back on the podium. F1 needs to see Daniel back on the podium.”

Ricciardo finished ninth in the driver standings in his first year with Renault last season — his worst result in the championship since his final year at Toro Rosso in 2013.

A seven-time grand prix winner while racing for Red Bull, Ricciardo’s best result last year was a fourth-place finish at the Italian GP.

Brundle stopped short of saying Ricciardo had made a mistake going to Renault, but said there was no doubt he would have been better placed in a Red Bull car.

“I was asked that question at a function one night with Daniel sitting beside me and I gave the answer he made the decision about his life, his career, so you can’t say it was wrong because it was his decision about him. It’s not for us to judge that,” the Sky Sports commentator said.

“I can see what he did and why he did it, it suited him at the time and I wouldn’t criticise him for it because it was his decision. But I don’t think it’s too difficult to say if he was in a Red Bull this weekend, you would be thinking ‘I wonder if Daniel can win this race’. I’m not thinking that in a Renault.”

Ricciardo is out of contract at the end of 2020 after signing a two-year deal to race with the French manufacturer, having decided to leave Red Bull at the end of 2018.

“He needs a strong year, he needs to be ahead of (teammate Esteban) Ocon … this is a very fickle business, it’s a fashion business and there are a lot of young kids coming along,” Brundle said.

“There is a lot of victories left in Daniel yet — if he gets in the right car.”

HERALD SUN