Ever since he left Red Bull at the end of 2018, Daniel Ricciardo has been switching teams around the paddock. The Australian first moved to Renault, but after spending just two years with the team, he switched to McLaren. The Honey Badger has now revealed that leaving the Milton Keynes squad was not a quick or easy decision.

In 2021, Ricciardo ditched Renault‘s black and yellow overalls for McLaren’s papaya ones. In his first race, the Australian came home seventh despite sustaining damage to his car.

Now, as he prepares for the second race of the season with the team for the race at Imola, Ricciardo will push the limits of the Mercedes-powered car. He hopes to give McLaren a good result by aiming for a win or a podium in Italy.

Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull was still stuck in his head

In an interview with GPRacing, Ricciardo stated, “But I think it was also I feel like I’ve said this a thousand times, but I just felt like my time was done at Red Bull as well. I’d spent about 10 years of my career there, so I just felt it was time to move on.

“And then what I thought about Renault at that time, I then saw in McLaren over the past 12-24 months. It’s a similar feeling, going from Renault to McLaren as it was from Red Bull. But I certainly saw a lot of promise in the plan.”

He added, “ll be honest, [in 2018] there were days where I was Red Bull, there were days when I was McLaren, days when I was Renault. On any given day, I was fine on all three of those teams. But, yeah, it came down pretty close to the wire.”

“And to be honest, Red Bull was there until the end in my head. I kept going back and forth, thinking, ‘Ah, maybe I’ll just stay where I know, “ Daniel concluded.

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The Australian expects more from the car for the upcoming weekend at Imola

The next round of the season takes us to Italy for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The McLaren driver hopes that he can give it his best as he prepares for the race at Imola.

The 31-year-old said, “I completely expected it to take a few races to feel comfortable in the car, but I’m feeling better after race one than I have done at the same point in previous years, so that’s really promising.

“We’ve been working hard back at the factory to understand how we can build on that solid start. Imola’s up next and we’re going to give it plenty.”

McLaren currently sit in third place in the constructors’ standings. The Woking-based squad hopes that they can achieve an even better result as they get ready to zip around the circuit.

Also Read: Daniel Ricciardo Felt “All the Love” Was in Verstappen’s Direction at Red Bull: Brundle