Daniel Ricciardo has revealed that Red Bull’s culture was partly responsible for his decision to leave the Milton Keynes-based team at the end of 2018.
The Aussie joined Renault after deciding to part ways with Red Bull, and after two seasons at the French works team, Ricciardo moved to McLaren for 2021.
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Ricciardo previously stated that he felt leaving Red Bull was the right move as the team seemed to be overly focused on making Max Verstappen, his team-mate at the time, the youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history.
As such, Ricciardo felt that his younger team-mate was potentially being given preferential treatment.
Speaking in an interview with Optus, an Australian telecoms company that has a partnership with the McLaren driver, Ricciardo revealed that Red Bull’s culture was another driving force behind his decision to leave the team around three years ago.
“The culture is a big one because like the culture dictates your happiness, your feeling, your enjoyment, your sense of belonging,” Ricciardo said.
“So I think there was a lot of little reasons which left me feeling like leaving Red Bull or moving on from Red Bull was the right thing at the time.
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“I was kind of concerned with the culture but also what my place in the culture looked like moving forward.
“I felt like I was going to become slightly more frustrated, probably more complacent, everything was just a little bit too easy.
“So it plays a big role. Absolutely,” he added.
Ricciardo has struggled at McLaren so far this campaign, with Lando Norris comprehensively outpacing him in equal machinery.
Earlier this month, the Aussie said he has been reminding himself that F1 “shouldn’t be easy” amid his struggles with his new team, and he described 2021 as his most difficult season in the pinnacle of motorsport.
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