Daniel Ricciardo believes ‘there is a lot less friction’ between Red Bull Racing and Renault, especially compared to the 2015 season when tension between the two parties was at times fraught.
During the 2015 Formula 1 season, Red Bull failed to win a single race which led to the Milton Keynes outfit publicly blaming Renault for their poor performance. From here, they even threatened to quit the championship unless they received a competitive power unit. A new deal was eventually signed which saw Red Bull host TAG Heuer-badged Renault power units.
Ricciardo believes there has been a change in the atmosphere in the team looking back at this time last year, everyone is a lot more happier which is encouraging.
“It has been really encouraging and nice to see,” said Ricciardo. “Last year was, especially this time last year, we were not looking too good, and things weren’t really looking like they were going to get better quickly.
“In the end we turned it around after the next few races after Canada. But we were 1.5 seconds from pole last year, a long way off, and we are a lot closer now, so it is good that it has not just come from the car. We have got the big chunk from the power unit, so it is nice that both packages are working together.
“That has been the real big thing for us, and then the teamwork between the guys with the power unit and the guys here at the team, there is a lot less friction than there was last year. Everyone is in a lot more positive happy place so it helps the morale within the team. We are more motivated to keep improving what we have got.”
