How Ricciardo already has Renault 'bouncing'

It was standing room only. Packed shoulder to shoulder with as many factory staff as could be squeezed in, Renault's race bays felt more like a crammed music gig than a pre-season Formula 1 briefing.

And as star act Daniel Ricciardo joined Nico Hulkenberg in moving to the front of the room amid rapturous applause and cheers, the mood of excitement was infectious. In those few short seconds it was clear Renault feels like a very different team now it has a 'Class A' race winner on board.

As the clapping died away, Ricciardo seemed temporarily taken aback by the warmth of his reception. But he needed little time to further win over his new work colleagues.

"I'm stoked; I really am," he beamed. "It's exciting. It's a bit like having a new girlfriend..."

But the Renault team is not just 'new' to Ricciardo, because its Enstone base these days is a world away from how it was even 12 months ago.

The mammoth factory investment undertaken since Renault took over is palpable. As you walk around the facilities, the newness of it all really hits home. Renault hasn't just polished things up; it's as though everything has been built up again from scratch.

A new gearbox dyno has come on tap for this year. The windtunnel has been upgraded. There are new machining and fabrication machines, upgraded 3D printing facilities, a larger and better production department and clean room, plus an expanded design office.

Yet there comes a point for any team when something more than shiny new equipment is needed for it to keep finding gains. And that is exactly where Ricciardo comes into it.

Since the day the Australian was signed, both he and his bosses were clear that this was not a partnership based on the illusion of being successful immediately. It was about building something for the future. Progress in 2019, podiums in '20 and wins in '21.

It was a brave decision for both of them, but one that had to be taken.

As Renault F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul explained: "Try to think the other way around. Imagine seeing the opportunity of signing Daniel and we will have said: 'Thank you but no thank you, it is not for us'.

"How do you want me to look in the race bays, and talk to the people, asking them to work harder and recruit talent? It means we don't believe in ourselves, that I don't believe in myself and I don't believe in Renault. So it is almost the opposite. Not signing Daniel if there was an opportunity was inconceivable."

For Abiteboul, the benefits of Ricciardo's arrival have been immediate.

"It is becoming increasingly hard to be working in F1, at the factory and at the track. It is really important to get some leadership, and some drive, coming from drivers who are aspirational. Drivers that make you wish to be working flat out night and day.

"It has made my life easier when I'm asking people to work harder, and we've done that - for instance, in Viry we got people to work on Saturdays in November, December and January.

"We cancelled the factory shutdown that is normally planned in week 52 and no-one challenged that decision, because it is obvious what you do when you have someone of the calibre of Daniel.

"So it is motivation and it could also be a spark. We've put a lot of the right ingredients in three years, lots of people, resources and investment, but you also need something that is igniting the mixture, and that is the sort of thing that I would like to see from Daniel."

"I couldn't tell you how many little pieces made up the puzzle, the kaleidoscope, but I guess Baku was one of the little pieces" Daniel Ricciardo

From Ricciardo's own perspective, the move has come at the right time for him too. He's suggested that he was partly inspired by what Lewis Hamilton did in leaving McLaren to join Mercedes - even though few are imagining that Ricciardo will immediately emulate the roll of success that followed Hamilton's move.

There have been cynics, however, who have suggested Ricciardo has made the wrong decision. That Renault will struggle to make big progress in the next two years, and he has thrown away the chances of more wins, and even the title, at Red Bull.

Now the reality of joining Renault has arrived, and he has seen the facilities up close, his mindset is as clear as it was on day one: that he has done the right thing in switching to Enstone.

"If I didn't feel it, I would probably try to make up something that did feel right," said the Australian. "But hand on heart it does feel right."

What is also important to realise is that the motivation for Ricciardo's move ran deeper than the quest for instant results. He had to weigh up the chance to break free, be his own man and experience new surroundings against the safety net of a quick Red Bull.

And then there was also the Max Verstappen factor. While Ricciardo had faith that he had the speed to take on the Dutchman, there is a hint of unease when he reflects on how the pair were treated at Red Bull.

It was interesting to hear Ricciardo open up this week on how lingering disappointment over how Red Bull dealt with the pair's Baku collision last year played a factor in his decision to leave.

"There was part of that," he said. "I also didn't want to hold a grudge to that and be, 'I am pissed, this is it'.

The Australian is bouncing about the reception he has had - and you sense he and the team are ready to push each other forwards

"I couldn't tell you how many little pieces made up the puzzle, the kaleidoscope, but I guess that was one of the little pieces. We both got a talking-to, putting it politely, but in my eyes, I guess the incident itself was... I felt like I was not really in the wrong even though I was the one that hit him, but I think most people saw the double move.

"Even before that, there was a lot of contact and I think a lot of people thought it went on too long. I guess the way it was handled at the time didn't sit too well with me, so that was like a little thing that bothered me. But it wasn't the deal breaker."

Pushed on whether he felt Verstappen should have been dealt with a bit more harshly, rather than the pair of them getting equal blame, Ricciardo said: "Yeah."

"Handling the media I get, and it is a big brand to look after. So again it doesn't help if we both go off at each other and that. I kind of felt like there was a bit of equal blame, but maybe that is me being a stubborn race car driver, but I didn't feel it was an equal incident I guess. That is the easiest way to put it."

Ricciardo is clear, though, that he has no grudges against Verstappen, nor was he ever unhappy with how the Dutchman behaved.

"I don't necessarily think Max was political. Just Max is Max. Even now it is done and I don't need to be careful with what I say. But to be honest it was actually... it was pretty good. I will say surprisingly, but it was pretty good.

"Look, some of the flamboyancy with Max, that is just with age as well, and I guess from that point of view I would expect less with Nico just because it is a bit of an age gap and maturity.

"Nico has been around the block plenty of times. But going back to Max... I don't think he was political. It was fun."

That fun factor is something that has definitely returned for Ricciardo at Renault though. The Australian is bouncing about the reception he has had - and you sense he and the team are ready to push each other forwards.

"I was very comfortable at Red Bull, for sure frustrated at times, but my feeling in the team was fine and I felt I could be myself. But coming here, I've settled in very quickly," he said.

"Addressing the factory - there were literally some guys bouncing around. I feel it has been a good fit already.

"The team has been on this rise and so they have been doing that already naturally. I feel the double effect is me coming in with what I know in the sport, helping them build, and then the excitement from the staff of me coming in and them having two experienced drivers.

"That can really feed off each other - and hopefully that means a steeper rise and then we are laughing."