Daniel Ricciardo Unsure About Place In Renault After 2020 Season

Daniel Ricciardo, star driver for Renault, recently opened up concerning his shaky future at the racing team.

The majority of the biggest stars on the grid are heading into a year of contract negotiations.

Ricciardo's long term future with Renault is not set in stone after failing to make any ground on the grid leaders, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes.

His contract is slated to end by next season, so the 30-year-old is facing a dilemma of keeping faith with Renault. The other option is pursuing another move to one of the other teams which have done better than Renault this year.

It is possible considering the contracts of Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Valterri Bottas and Max Verstappen are ending after the 2020 season.

He also admitted to BBC that he is not sure about staying with Renault following the car’s chassis and reliability issues this season.

He claimed the team needed to show some performance improvements on the car before he committed to staying past 2020.

He added the improvements should be noted not just from one position to the next, but substantial gains that could place him in a fight for the podium during some point in the next year.

His requests are valid though considering his performance at Monza Grand Prix showed hope for Renault as their best performance yet when the team finished fourth and fifth.

Unfortunately, Ricciardo’s uncertainty has not been assuaged by team management. Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul appeared consigned to losing the lead driver once his contract expired.

The team recently signed 22-year-old Esteban Ocon for the 2020 season, and Abiteboul confirmed they would be hunting for more young talent.

After being the reserve driver for Mercedes, his shift to Renault will be to replace Nico Hulkenberg as a part of a two-year deal which will keep the driver there up to 2021.

The chief executive also added they hope and expect to have one driver from their academy by the year 2021 that will become the lead driver during that season.

Apparently, it is a shift of dynamic which is being done by other teams.

He is not wrong though, as other teams have noted an influx of young talented drivers that are now the lead drivers. They include Charles LeClerc for Ferrari and Max Verstappen and Alex Albon for Red Bull.

The comments by Abiteboul seem to throw Ricciardo under the bus, and it may be the most significant sign he is going to be looking for a drive soon.