Team building the key to Renault success says Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo took a while to get going in 2019 but showed his true ability more as the season wore on. For 2020, the Australian aims to hit the ground running with a better, more focused pre-season top of the agenda.

Being critical and evaluating others - that is easy. Doing the same of yourself - less.

Moving from front-runners Red Bull to midfield team Renault, Ricciardo knew that the road would not be smooth and, even heading into 2019, admitted that this was more of a project than a move where instant success was expected.

However, an overly packed media schedule for the season opening Australian Grand Prix put him on the back foot from the very start and it took until the Mexican Grand Prix in October to get any kind of consistency in results.

“For [2020] I’ve got some ideas of things I can do more or better… I feel like I integrated myself into the team well this year, but I look back and am like ‘I can do more’," Ricciardo told FormulaOne.com. "I want to have a bit more presence before the season starts, before testing, but also have some ideas of things we can do together as a team to get us into the season.

“Not just technically, but as a team unit, I want to get to [pre-season in] Barcelona feeling like we got some momentum before the season even starts."

Ricciardo continued by highlighting that he wants to get to know more of his team members, specifically referencing team principal Cyril Abiteboul.

“Call it team building and some activities,” he continued. “More importantly, spend time with the team. Even away from the track. At the track, even like with Cyril sometimes, it is ‘hi’, and that is all you get over the weekend because we are busy. So you don’t always get good quality time at the circuit.

“I feel that to take this relationship to the next level, getting time away from the track is good. Just having that feeling, even for the guys, if they know each other a bit more, they will want to work a little bit harder for each other and make some good stuff happen.”

Renault will launch their 2020 car in Paris on February 12.

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