Prost: Ricciardo will take Renault to "another dimension"
- Published on 12 Jan 2019 15:50
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- By: Harry Mattocks
Formula 1 legend Alain Prost has said that the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo at the Enstone-based Renault team will help take the French squad to "another dimension".
The four-time world champion is a special adviser to the team, and believes they will really benefit from the experience and knowledge that Ricciardo will bring.
The Australian has won seven races over the past five seasons with Red Bull, and they have all come under Renault power.
"We are very happy with the drivers we had in 2018, that's the first thing we must say," Prost told Motorsport.com. "We're very pleased with Carlos [Sainz].
"But for sure Daniel will give, not another motivation because we don't need that, but he's going to be quite a big help to make the team even better.
"He's going to give us some information, he's going to make the team in another dimension."
The Frenchman did concede that he believes Renault has some "missed opportunities" last season, but is convinced that they can make good progress in 2019, especially with the power unit.
"In fact if you look at all the teams you always have some ups and downs. We were maybe not where we wanted to be in the summer, for different reasons, but we came back.
"The engine side was a little bit better, on the chassis side there were a few things where maybe we missed some opportunities.
"But we wanted to be fourth, or the best after the top three, and we wanted to be closer to them. It's very difficult to manage that, because we took a decision to prepare for next season in the best way, not to develop too much, especially around the engine.
"So in fact we've done exactly what we wanted to do so far. Now the next step is next season to be closer to the top teams."
Prost conceded that it's not easy to make constant progress.
"You cannot be on an upwards line like this, there's always some steps. Maybe we were a little bit disappointed by some races, for sure, but the good thing is that the team was able to get back to it. That's the answer I would say.
"It's really difficult to make one more step to where they are. One thing that is difficult to accept sometimes is that especially Ferrari and Mercedes made a big improvement with the engine. So we had to move, and we're really moving for next year."
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Replies (9)
Login to replyxoya
Posts: 583
Wow! Way to spit on Hulkenberg.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Fair point, but I think a lot of this is down to Ricciardo being a super star. This signing sort of shows Renault ambition to play with the big boys. Spending a lot of money to bring a top driver. Hulkenberg may well be close to Ricciardo, but unfortunately he hasn't had his break.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Yes, up to this point, Hulk has never been in a top team, fighting for multiple podiums and wins. Now is his chance to measure up against one of F1's current better drivers.
sadosalo
Posts: 198
C'mon Prost, the Hulk will stand up to Ricciardo, he will enjoy the challenge and he should be in a top team. Wait and see but its going to be a challenge Monsieur Prost. Go, go Nico.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
At the very least I dont think Hulk will willingly become a second driver. He wont just sit back and let Ric take over the team he has tried to build around himself. And considering the fact Perez beat Hulk, if Hulk beats Ric (I dont think he will, but who knows?), the top teams are bound to notice Perez.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
I hope Renault wouldn’t bring down by another dimension.
kngrthr
Posts: 203
i think other dimensions are banned in F1
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Or maybe its a plot from Red Bull to rid the grid of Renault? Ricciardo, for all we know, might be a wizard whom was tasked by Red Bull to literally take Renault to another dimension.
Coventry Climax
Posts: 624
Can't wait to see how Ric does against Hulk, and I'm not too sure Ric will come out on top by that much of a margin, if even at all. But if he does, let's hope Renault is prepared for the other dimension and that they hired some rocket scientists and space physisists to deal with the scenario. Hawkins would have been an option, but he's in another dimension himself now.