“We can do better for Daniel Ricciardo” – Renault F1 boss Abiteboul

Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul says the team’s journey with Daniel Ricciardo can offer ‘much more’ as the Australian considers whether to re-sign beyond 2020 or venture to pastures new.

Ricciardo’s shock move from Red Bull to the French constructor yielded disappointing results in 2019, with a best finish of fourth place and only a handful of top ten finishes to his name, while customer team McLaren went on to outperform the factory squad.

It’s raised questions as to whether Ricciardo, whose stock remains high amongst the top F1 teams, could be lured away for 2021 with the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull yet to confirm their second drivers for next season.

While Abiteboul accepts Renault didn’t live up expectations in 2019, he feels the team still has a lot to offer Ricciardo should he continue, insisting the team ‘can do better’ for him.

“We do feel it is a journey that has much more to offer than what it offered last year,” he told F1.com. “We all know last year was a bit of mixed feelings, mixed results, to many degrees.

“We feel we can do better, which is why certainly there is a shared feeling we should do more. Whether that leads to an extension of the contract, time will tell. There is certainly a shared appetite, if my understanding is correct.”

The current pause on racing action hasn’t helped matters with Ricciardo now unable to use the opening rounds as a reference point towards making a final decision. With negotiations starting soon, Abiteboul is hopeful he can convince its star driver to stay on.

“In a normal season, it is clearly around May and June you start having discussions. It’s an unusual season to a certain degree.

“It’s postponed a number of things, but having said that we have to keep planning for the future, so that is part of the things which are taking place with Daniel and others. We’re not desperate to have a resolution about that but for sure we’re planning.”