How 'spoiled' Ricciardo got a reality check

After qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Nico Hulkenberg said that Renault team-mate Daniel Ricciardo's feedback comes from a "spoiled, a kind of better car" starting point. It was a light-hearted comment rather than a dig, made in response to a question about Ricciardo feeling that the car wasn't perfect over the bumps, but Hulkenberg's words encapsulate an irrefutable truth.

Ricciardo's shock decision to sign for midfield outfit Renault meant turning his back on a series of Red Bulls that were, at times, the class of the chassis field. The evidence so far suggests that adapting to life in the midfield has been more difficult than anticipated, hence the decision to take part in this week's Bahrain test.

Ricciardo is no fool and went into this with his eyes open. But knowing you are moving into - hopefully temporarily - disadvantageous circumstances before the event is one thing. Living it minute by minute is another entirely.

Two pre-season tests and a pair of troubled GPs have been a reality check for Ricciardo. In Bahrain, his underlying pace was two or three tenths off Hulkenberg's and he has struggled to adapt to a more limited car than he is used to.

"I knew it would take time, but in my heart I guess I just expected to jump right in the car and it'd all be sweet," said Ricciardo when asked if it has been more challenging than expected. "It's no secret that we're not on the same pace as the car I had last year, and that's something I need to figure out a bit.

"I guess in Charles [Leclerc]'s situation, coming up to the seat he has this year, it's a bit like me when I came from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, you just have more grip and it's like, 'Wow!' So I'm trying to come back and figure out the best way.

"At least yesterday [Friday practice] and for a bit of Melbourne, I was overdriving, so it needs a bit of patience and discipline from me and it's challenging for me to learn that and figure it out. In a way that's exciting though."

Put it to Ricciardo that he is effectively faster than the car he is driving and it's clear he understands the meaning. He is a classical stylist behind the wheel and wants to carry in significant speed. That demands rear stability in the entry phase and grip in the corner, both areas where the Renault lacks compared to the Red Bull. He says himself, he is used to more downforce and better balance. He's driving a car that is better than the one he is in, so gets himself in strife with that desire to carry the speed in.

This is at the heart of the deficit to Hulkenberg, a driver who has inhabited midfield F1 machinery for almost a decade. In effect, Ricciardo has to relearn what another F1 car can and cannot do, a task that's tougher than it sounds.

Ricciardo hasn't always been "spoiled" by his machinery in F1. He made his debut in 2011 in an HRT that was as uncompetitive a grand prix car as there has been in recent times. He then spent two years scrapping for minor points finishes with Toro Rosso before his Red Bull shot. In both teams, he performed well.

Although the car's overall performance level is better than qualifying in particular has suggested, Renault is not where it needs to be

But as Ricciardo alludes to with his comment about Leclerc, jumping into a better car is an easier direction than the one he has gone in. The Ferrari Leclerc is racing this year has more of everything than his 2018 Sauber. What Ricciardo has is less of everything.

Ricciardo knew what he was getting into. He desperately needed to get out of Red Bull after five frustrating but successful seasons and when Mercedes and Ferrari shunned him his only option was to buy into Project Renault.

It was not a ridiculous idea. Renault is a manufacturer team with big investment and legitimate aspirations to fight for championships - and in its various guises the Enstone squad has been tremendously successful and has some excellent personnel and facilities available.

But the comparison with Lewis Hamilton's well-timed switch to Mercedes never held water because that project was more well-advanced. Mercedes was a winning team when Hamilton signed on the dotted line, while revived Renault has yet to crack the top four in a race.

Ricciardo hasn't lost hope, but the reality of the situation will now be very clear to him. And given that the Renault doesn't have the balance he needs, who knows when he will next pull off one of those trademark late-lunge overtaking manoeuvres?

The driving side is just one part of the puzzle and, actually, a far easier one to fix for a driver of Ricciardo's calibre. We can be sure he will adapt, he's too sharp not to. But there are other dimensions to this reality check.

Firstly, although the car's overall performance level is better than qualifying in particular has suggested, Renault is not where it needs to be. Team principal Cyril Abiteboul spoke over the winter about the need to finish a "better" fourth in the constructors' championship, which means comfortably ahead of the rest of the midfield. Right now, it's firmly in that pack.

Secondly, the reason the performance level has been shrouded is that things keep going wrong. In three attempts at qualifying so far this season, only one can be said to have been straightforward. That was Ricciardo's in Australia, where it was just a little traffic and his own scruffy lap that led to him being knocked out in Q2.

In that same session, Hulkenberg had to abandon his run after an electrical problem led to a boost pressure drop-out. Both cars were held back by an electronics issue that meant their engine mapping was not correct in Bahrain qualifying, with Hulkenberg doubly hindered by a second mechanical malady. So in certain aspects, Renault seems not to be at its best operationally.

Then there was the double retirement from the race in Bahrain. Ricciardo was furious last year with Renault's engine problems, to the point where he talked about skipping the end of the season, quipping "see you in Barcelona" as he headed out of the paddock at the Mexican Grand Prix.

So quite what he thought when his MGU-K gave up the ghost, who knows? His mood can't have been helped when he realised that Hulkenberg had stopped just a few metres away from him, having lost power a few moments beforehand.

Meanwhile, Red Bull has its problems, but Max Verstappen has a podium finish with Honda propulsion to his name already and, by most people's reckoning, Renault has definitively slipped to fourth and last in the power unit pecking order. It's the Renault engine side that is the big concern.

The stakes are high. It's possible Ricciardo might never win another grand prix, which would be a crying shame

So Ricciardo finds himself in a car he's struggling to get on top of, in a team that still has some growing to do, powered by an engine package that has always had problems during the V6 turbo hybrid era. He signed up for two years, hopeful of climbing to the front with the team and he will still be hoping to be able to fight for wins come 2021, presuming he's still there. But victories must feel a very long way off right now.

None of this means it was a mistake for Ricciardo to move to Renault. While the comparison of Red Bull and Renault's performance and prospects suggests so, it was painfully clear that he was a man in need of a change of scene. Doubly so given the primacy of Verstappen in a team that the Dutchman was making his own. But the novelty of not being at Red Bull will have worn off and there's a long road ahead.

The stakes are high. It's possible Ricciardo might never win another grand prix, which would be a crying shame, given the patchy history of drivers voluntarily leaving a winning team to move to one not currently near the top.

He's a wonderful driver, a great ambassador for F1 and a genuinely likeable character whose perma-grin shrouds a ruthless competitive instinct. He deserves a shot at the world championship, and given the level he's operated at for many years - twice securing number-one spot in Autosport's top 50 drivers of the year - there's every chance he could win one. Let's hope Renault delivers on its potential long term.

But there's a long way to go. At Red Bull he expressed frustration that time was slipping away from him, conscious that sometimes you have to force the issue to get what might be your only title shot.

Taking one step back to go two forwards down the line sounds great before you do it, but once you're living that battle it's far harder.

It's a task he will be equal to and was clearly the right move for him personally, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy. The past six weeks have proved that.