Hülkenberg disclosed Ricciardo’s arrival and management decisions as key factors behind his 2019 Renault F1 exit.
Nico Hülkenberg has revealed that Daniel Ricciardo’s arrival at Renault F1 was one of the reasons for his departure at the end of the 2019 season. The German driver had been with the team since 2017, but the signing of the Australian involved a significant financial commitment from the team led by Cyril Abiteboul, who prioritised him.
“Being his teammate was not in itself difficult,” the German told GP Racing. “But I think during that period, there were things happening within the team that weren’t very positive for me, especially at the management level.”
“When you recruit a top driver, you need to convince the management and pay a high price. But then, the car’s performance doesn’t live up to what it should be, or what was promised to the management, and the pressure mounts. Moreover, some strategic decisions ended up disadvantaging me.”
Hülkenberg revisited a specific strategic decision he did not accept: “I could not understand it. It was one of the turning points of the season. Okay, the season had been difficult up to that point, but the decision to freeze positions?”
“I could have easily overtaken him. I had much fresher tyres and could have passed him without any risk. To me, that was an absurd explanation. In retrospect, I should not have obeyed.”
“Of course, they wouldn’t have liked it; it would have created friction. And so? Frictions within the team happen all the time, and then the season goes on and you move to the next race. Things are quickly forgotten!”
“After that, I think it was during the second half of the season that I no longer felt supported and realised that we were no longer a team with the management. What we had built over the previous two years somehow dissolved. It wasn’t very good and it obviously impacted my performance.”
The driver appears to hold a grudge against Cyril Abiteboul and does not hide his pleasure at seeing that the Frenchman has since left Formula One: “It’s funny that, five years later, he’s no longer here. I left too, but I came back and I’m still here.”
“That says something. There is also a detail that may not be very well known: it was Fred [Vasseur] who signed me. He was the one who brought me in. But he also had issues and left very quickly. That’s another change.”
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Hülkenberg Blames Abiteboul Over Ricciardo for Renault Exit Hülkenberg Blames Abiteboul Over Ricciardo for Renault Exit
