Daniel Ricciardo insists his desire to succeed with Renault hasn’t been diminished by a poor start.
The Australian only has a single points finish to his name so far with the French manufacturer, that being a solid seventh place in China.
Otherwise, his own mistakes have led to two retirements plus a mechanical in Bahrain have meant the high expectations produced pre-season have come to very little.
“It’s still certainly a process,” Ricciardo said of Renault’s development to Autosport. “I wouldn’t say I am surprised by anything.
“Obviously we would have hoped for better results than we have currently got. We all want that, we are all honest enough to admit that.
“It would be nice to get a few more seventh places as opposed to struggling for the top 10, but we didn’t expect to be in podium contention or anything like that.”
Also Read:
- Ricciardo: Confidence will be key to a good Monaco result
- Ricciardo not ‘discouraged’ by Renault’s early season problems
- Toro Rosso’s Tost has a dig at Ricciardo while praising Verstappen
Asked what he has seen in the few months since he made his transition from Red Bull, Ricciardo believes Renault has continued on their path.
“I still see what I saw when I signed as far as the input everyone’s having, the infrastructure still going up,” he said. “Motivation certainly hasn’t dipped by any means.
“It’s going to take a bit more time, I am trying as well and doing everything I can. I also feel that everything I have put in has been taken on board and the team is willing to grow and learn,” Ricciardo added.
“I’m not saying it is all me, but at least my influence has been quite positive. I am enjoying it – I really am. I’d love to get better results.
“Hopefully a special weekend here will kick things off nicely.”
Last year’s winner in Monaco finished P11 in the first practice session on Thursday.
