Former F1 driver Christian Danner believes that the Renault at their disposal is not helping the causes of their drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg who cannot strut their stuff due to the limitations of the RS19.
Danner told RTL that both Ricciardo and Hulkenberg are frustrated with the current situation at Renault, “They are prisoners of their car.”
“Again and again we see flashes of their class, Ricciardo has had a little more good fortune than Hulkenberg who at Hockenheimring crashed while in a promising position, of course, was really stupid,” added Danner.
Meanwhile, Renault’s development has been slow and troubled, and according to Racing Point team manager Andy Stevenson, Ricciardo’s frustration with life at Renault is showing.
For 2019, the Australian switched from being Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull to the French works team, declaring that he needed a new challenge.
Stevenson was commenting after Ricciardo supposedly broke a “gentleman’s agreement” about not overtaking rival cars on the lap before qualifying flyers.
“It seems that Daniel is beginning to get very frustrated that he is in a Renault rather than a Red Bull,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport, after Ricciardo tried to pass Sergio Perez on the last corner of a qualifying warm-up lap in Hungary.
Stevenson said the “gentleman’s agreement” about such moves was made in Monaco, “There was a discussion between the drivers and the FIA and that’s when the gentlemen’s agreement was made.”
In the race, Ricciardo’s frustration showed again when he displayed the middle finger to Kevin Magnussen after a scrap and blurted over the radio, “This c*nt is taking the piss, moving under braking.”
Big Question: How long will Dan keep his patience with Renault?