Daniel Ricciardo reveals major regret over 2018 Red Bull departure

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he wishes he had stayed at the Red Bull Formula 1 team rather than leaving at the end of the 2018 season.

The Australian won seven grands prix with Red Bull, but shocked everyone when he left the team and joined Renault for 2019, leaving Max Verstappen as the team’s undisputed lead driver. The Dutchman went on to win four consecutive world titles from 2021, while Ricciardo won just one more race - for McLaren at Monza in 2021 - before his F1 career ended in 2024.

Speaking on the Beyond The Grid podcast, the Australian confirmed the team had wanted him to stay, and admitted that, looking back, he would have done things differently.

“If I’m to answer it shortly, yes. I guess I wish I would have stayed, right? I say I guess, that doesn’t sound convincing. I wish I would have stayed but, I don’t know, also at the time I left because I felt I was getting a bit comfortable, a bit complacent. I think there was a desire to try something else. So I don’t know, it’s not that black and white.”

The 37-year-old said the move had cost him what was likely his best chance of fighting for a world championship.

“If I could have been a world champion, yes, was that my best opportunity? Yeah, absolutely. So from that point of view, I’m like, ‘Yeah, I would have loved to have known another reality of if I stayed.’ I don’t want to say it haunts me, but it’s the one unknown that I’m like, I’m so interested how that would have panned out.”

Ricciardo was careful not to claim he would have beaten Verstappen, saying it would be “unfair” to suggest that. But he did insist that he was still at the top of his game at the time, proven by his win at the Monaco Grand Prix and his pole position in Mexico that year.

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, takes a photo on stage at the Miami Opening Party, in front of Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“I’m not doubting my abilities to have kept competing with Max,” he said. “It’s clear that from that point on, yes, my career took some... the river was a little windy and rough. So, yeah, that was a pivotal moment.”

He added: “If I could relive it again, would I stay? And am I absolutely curious about what would have happened? Yes, the answer is yes. So if you want to call it regret or curiosity or whatever, then I will say yes.”

Ricciardo later returned to the Red Bull family, first as a reserve driver in 2023 and then racing for its second team, before being dropped after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix after a turbulent time at the outfit.

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- The Motorsport.com Team