Daniel Ricciardo has suggested he expected more from Renault in the opening half of his first year with the team.
It was a year ago this week that the Australian stunned the Formula 1 paddock by announcing his decision to leave Red Bull for the French manufacturer.
When that move came, it got off to a rocky start with Ricciardo ruining his race in Australia mere metres after the lights went out while the only main highlight came in Canada.
“I had, I don’t want to say expectations, but scenarios in my head at the start of the year how things would go,” he said speaking after the Hungarian GP.
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“Now I can assess where it is and try to understand also what I can do better within myself and within the team to keep everything going, and not let days like this emotionally make me kind of do things that are not positive.
“The summer break will be good for us. I’m confident the second half will be better.
“We are just going to stay above water now and keep everyone’s spirits high. I know that we will get there.”
What has been more frustrating is Renault’s lack of progress with 2019 seen as the year the team would break away from the midfield and start closing the gap to the top three teams.
But that simply hasn’t happened and instead, the Enstone-based outfit has been largely outperformed by their customer team McLaren.
Ricciardo has tried to maintain the feeling of no regrets about leaving Red Bull, although he has been surprised by the problems faced by his successor Pierre Gasly.
“It’s a tough one with him now because it is… the reality is reality – he is a long way off Max,” said Ricciardo.
“So on one side, they are happy with Max and the first pole for him [in Hungary]. But on the other hand, I think deep down they know that they could be scoring a lot more points.
“I don’t know what it is at the moment with Pierre because last year he got some big results with Toro Rosso, which was clearly not as good a car as the Red Bull.
“So a tough one. I know Max as a team-mate I know he is…and I didn’t expect Pierre to come out and beat him.
“I’m not surprised that Max is beating him, but I am surprised at the gap.”