What if Daniel Ricciardo never left Red Bull?

This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately, especially with Red Bull actually having a shot at the championship this year. So, I made a video on it. You're... welcome?

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[avd_]

Imagine the scenes right now if Daniel was still an RB driver. He could easily have made the current two-way tie between Max and Lewis a three-way tie! It's unfortunately been what could've been so far, for Daniel, and as someone who likes the guy, it hurts. Really hope MCL deliver next year, cause he deserves a lot! Awesome vid mate!

[chonkmansupreme]

This is probably one of the biggest "what if's" of the sport, if he wouldn't have left Red Bull till atleast 2021, he could have been a Title Challenging position for this year. And the whole RB 2nd Seat Alex/Gasly/Perez swap would never happen.

[gsbi]

At this point, I'm hurting so much for a Danny comeback that I just hope he decides to stick with McLaren and that he takes his time to adapt properly to the car. McLaren has been on an absolute flyer from 2018 up until now, so even though he missed the Red Bull rise, I hope he'll stick to ride the McLaren one.

[TechBuilder]

Makes me wonder now how seb would perform in an competitive RB car again

[VinayakMaraj]

Yeah, Daniel is my favourite driver but I was skeptical when he left Red Bull for Renault.
"I'm leaving Red Bull because their Renault engines blew up 8 times during my season, "
"Where are you going to then?"
"The Renault Works Team!"

Yeah, honestly, Daniel does deserve a World Title. He beat a prime Sebastian Vettel in 2014 by some margin, and outscored Max Verstappen in 2016 and 2017, and beat a well established driver like Hulkenburg in his first season at Renault and absolutely demolished Esteban Ocon in 2020.

Daniel is capable of at least matching Lando, but remember, age isn't on Daniel's side and Lando can only improve from here. Daniel is probably in or quickly approaching his prime. Next year he'll make a bold but good statement. I know it. Enchante, John.

[jaxtomasko]

personally, i’ve never blamed daniel for leaving rb. it had been 5 seasons since they won their last championship and they made zero progress closing the gap to mercedes in that time. let’s not forget, the only reason red bull are competing with mercedes this year is due to a rule change regarding the rear floor aerodynamics that was intentional in hurting mercedes and benefitting red bull. on top of that, the reliability was an absolute joke. but baku was the real cherry on top. the team blamed him for an incident that was clearly max’s fault. i would want out too. yeah it’s painful thinking “what if” now, but at the time he made the decision, it was the right one.
on the bright side mclaren are getting stronger and stronger every year and i genuinely believe they will make it back to the top

[sondosoft]

The move to Renault seemed like a deeply personal one. I think he was well aware he wasn’t gonna get a championship with them and RB would still be fighting at the top. He had to do it anyways, he’s never exactly said why but I get it generally.

[reecejohnson]

If Daniel didn’t leave red bull would definitely win the constructors championship this year

[genericroadman]

It could have turned into a Hamilton Rosberg situation which could have hurt them even more

[WTSKY]

If Daniel stayed at Red Bull it would be a Hamilton/Rosberg situation all over again. Toxic garage, but both teammates having a legit chance at the WDC and probably winning the Constructor's Cup as well.

[UndisclosedDoor]

I still feel that Daniel did not make a bad move going to Renault. He was expecting them to continue with their big yearly improvement, having a good teammate, and ahem no more Max.
He did almost go to Mclaren in 2019 but at the end of 2018 Mclaren was bad and was not expecting them to make a dramatic comeback in 2019. So I get where Daniel was getting going to Renault

[jacksondale]

Tbh I think lando needs to be careful not to get cocky next season, cause the car will be so different and both him and ricciardo will have to adjust, something lando has never had to do.

[brokenboi]

On the contrary, I think it was smart to move from RBR. Firstly, the situation at Red Bull is not much different from Mercedes, so even if Danny Ric was still at RBR, he'd be treated as a no. 2 driver. Besides, the pressure to keep up with Max is really hard. The working environment in Red Bull doesn't seem to be very healthy for drivers apart from Max. I feel like his move to McLaren will bear fruit in the coming years.

[simbarocksone]

If he didn’t leave Red Bull, they’d be leading the constructors but he would be a mile back in the driver standings cos Red Bull would still show the preferential treatment to Verstappen.

[blindnicknamer]

“If McClaren nails next year’s regulations like I think they will” yikes that aged like the nastiest of milk

[liukin]

Given how Pierre & Alex were treated as Max's team mates, I'm pretty sure Daniel's departure from Red Bull would've happened regardless. He wanted a fresh start with a new team & despite the difficulties he's had I'm sure he doesn't regret it one bit.

[beautifulbeasts]

" If mclaren nail next years regs, like I believe they will " That aged like milk

[pugzilla]

I’m so excited for next season and I know that if Daniel is given a car that can win races consistently then he will be extremely hungry for that title knowing it might be his only chance, so I hope mclaren nail this and he gets ready for a crazy season

[absolutelynotanoriginalnam]

I can't believe you are just a 40K sub channel, your edition, info, everything is just so professional, i'm sure you deserve more and you'll get more, keep your content like that because i simply love it, cheers!

[aliaagouda]

Leaving RBR was the best decision imo. You said it very well, DR wasn't going to win the WDC with RBR. My biggest "what if" is DR going to McLaren in 2019. The car would've been developed around him by now. I don't think he would've been fighting for the title now, but would've been much much closer.