Ricciardo admits leaving Red Bull in 2018 cost him his best shot at a world title

Daniel Ricciardo has openly admitted he wishes he had stayed at Red Bull beyond 2018, saying the decision to join Renault almost certainly cost him his best opportunity to fight for a Formula 1 world championship.

Speaking on the Beyond The Grid podcast, the 37-year-old reflected on a move that stunned the paddock at the time. Red Bull had wanted him to stay, but Ricciardo chose to leave — a choice he now views with a mixture of regret and curiosity. “If I’m to answer it shortly, yes. I guess I wish I would have stayed,” he said. “I don’t want to say it haunts me, but it’s the one unknown that I’m so interested in — how that would have panned out.”

The Australian won seven grands prix during his time at Red Bull, including the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, and took pole position in Mexico that same year. He insists he was still performing at the highest level when he walked away. “I’m not doubting my abilities to have kept competing with Max,” he said. “It’s clear that from that point on, yes, my career took some… the river was a little windy and rough. So, yeah, that was a pivotal moment.”

Ricciardo was careful not to claim he would have beaten Max Verstappen, calling such a suggestion “unfair”. But he acknowledged that staying would have given him the platform to at least contest a title. Verstappen, left as Red Bull’s undisputed lead driver from 2019, went on to win four consecutive world championships between 2021 and 2024.

By contrast, Ricciardo managed just one further race victory — a memorable triumph for McLaren at Monza in 2021 — before his F1 career wound down. He returned to the Red Bull fold as a reserve driver in 2023 and then raced for sister team RB, but was dropped following the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.

His explanation for leaving in the first place adds a layer of complexity to the regret. “At the time I left because I felt I was getting a bit comfortable, a bit complacent,” he said. “There was a desire to try something else. So I don’t know, it’s not that black and white.”

Still, the conclusion he reaches is unambiguous. “If I could relive it again, would I stay? And am I absolutely curious about what would have happened? Yes, the answer is yes. So if you want to call it regret or curiosity or whatever, then I will say yes.”