Renault advisor Alain Prost tips Daniel Ricciardo to provide a boost in performance at the team in 2019.
The Australian has taken the big gamble on the long-term potential of the French manufacturer, which has made its way up from the back of the grid in 2016 to finishing fourth in last year’s Constructors’ Championship.
Given his five years of experience with a top team at Red Bull, Prost believes that can bring benefits to Renault that it hasn’t had previously.
“We are very happy with the drivers we had in 2018, that’s the first thing we must say,” the four-time Formula 1 champion told Motorsport.com. “We were very pleased with Carlos [Sainz].
“But for sure Daniel will give, not another motivation because we don’t need that, but he’s going to be quite a big help to make the team even better.
“He’s going to give us some information, he’s going to make the team in another dimension.”
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The issue is how Renault will take the next step to somehow close the gap between the midfield and the top three teams, with their fellow works teams Mercedes and Ferrari particularly challenging.
“You cannot be on an upwards line like this, there’s always some steps,” Prost continued, noting their progress in the midfield.
“Maybe we were a little bit disappointed by some races, for sure, but the good thing is that the team was able to get back to it. That’s the answer I would say.
“It’s really difficult to make one more step to where they are. One thing that is difficult to accept sometimes is that especially Ferrari and Mercedes made a big improvement with the engine.
“So we had to move, and we’re really moving for 2019,” he concluded.