Ricciardo Not Fooled by Hulkenberg's Record

Ricciardo Not Fooled by Hulkenberg's Record

By: Francis Joseph

Daniel Ricciardo will not be fooled by 2019 Renault Formula 1 teammate Nico Hulkenberg's record without a podium because he believes the German is "not that level of driver".

Despite being widely regarded as one of the most impressive drivers on the F1 grid, as well as having won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2015, Hulkenberg has yet to appear on the podium in 156 grands prix starts.

Ricciardo has left Red Bull, where he scored seven wins and 29 podiums during a five-year spell at the team, to partner Hulkenberg at the Renault works team.

He says he will need the happy memories of his time and success at Red Bull to ease the transition at his new team and beat Hulkenberg.

"I'll certainly take a lot of the highs with me and take them with me as confidence moving to Renault," Ricciardo told Motorsport .com.

"And I'll need that as well because of Nico."

"I think that everyone who knows F1 knows his calibre. From the outside, you can think that he's done 200 races or whatever and never had a podium, but we all know he isn't that level of driver."