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After another misfortune with Renault's power unit poor performance, Daniel Ricciardo joined teammate Max Verstappen as a critic voice of the Renault engine. The Red Bull Racing driver was forced to retire from the previous race in Bahrain and had major issues with the Renault power unit in the third free practice in China.
Ricciardo's mechanics managed to figure out the issues and the Australian racer managed to qualify sixth in China. When asked about the Renault engine performances, Ricciardo replied shortly: "I'll never give up hope but for sure the window of optimism reduces over time."
The Red Bull Racing - Renault partnership brought four consecutive Constructors titles for the Austrian outfit between 2010 and 2013, but since the start 1.6 V6 turbo-hybrid engine at the beginning of the 2014 season, the French manufacturers managed to score only eight wins in four seasons, with Ricciardo winning five GP's between 2014 and 2017.
When asked about the objectives for the Chinese Grand Prix race, Ricciardo replied: "Ferrari has had really good pace all weekend and I can't say honestly now that we're going to have their pace tomorrow but Mercedes definitely look within reach. To my mind there's still a spot up on the podium for grabs so we'll try and aim for that."
Aged 28, Ricciardo joined Red Bull Racing at the beginning of the 2014 season. He managed to win five GP's in his career, all of them with the Austrian team. Currently, Ricciardo sits in the championship standings, with the twelve points scored in the season opener in Australia.
Paul Athes
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
C. Sainz jr
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Understandable. Renault has been in F1 for how many consecutive years now? And have been in F1 since the genesis of the hybrid era. For them to still lag behind is a pretty dismal record. And now it seems like Honda is catching them (potentially).