Daniel Ricciardo has revealed a move to McLaren would have been very likely had it not been for their current lack of performance.
The Australian was linked with several teams as he considered options away from Red Bull, with speculation linking him to Ferrari, Ricciardo himself confirming tentative talks at Mercedes before finally confirming a move to Renault for 2019.
However, now the 29-year-old admits of all the Formula 1 squads he spoke to, McLaren was probably his most appealing.
“McLaren, as a group I had a couple of meetings with them, and I thought they were really cool people,” he told Racer.
“Definitely as personnel I like them a lot. Not that I don’t like Red Bull or anyone else, but I had a really positive vibe with them, but obviously, they’ll admit it, they’re just not there yet and it just seemed probably a bit too optimistic to go there at that point. So that kind of eliminated them.
“I think if it was completely personal then McLaren would have been as attractive as anyone.”
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However, looking at teams that have the potential to get Ricciardo to where he wants to be – challenging for wins and championships – Renault was simply the best option available.
“Renault, we were kind of talking to a bit and eventually it just kind of clicked for me and I was like ‘Alright, so it’s a works team, the progress they’ve made is good, it’s two years and a solid deal’,” he explained.
“The presentation and everything that Renault put forward – we all know they’ve still got work to do with the chassis and engine, but what they showed me, what they’ve done the last two years, when they put it on paper it all added up.
“Their trajectory seems realistic if that makes sense. It just seemed like the right fit, and I was like ‘You know what? That’s it’. It got to that point as well where what I really felt I just need a change, and just to break the routine, really.”