Daniel Ricciardo revealed the details of a bet he had made with his boss that if the Australian were to claim his first Renault F1 podium since re-entering the sport in 2016, Cyril Abiteboul would get a tattoo.
“I think he will choose the location and size and I will choose the design. ” Ricciardo joked on Thursday at the Spanish Grand Prix press conference about the bet with his boss.
“But we will clarify that. But it’s a tattoo and he doesn’t have one, so it’s a big problem for Cyril. ”
Asked about the design he was preparing for the team boss, Daniel Ricciardo replied: “I don’t know, I think it will probably be something a little spontaneous, driven by the moment. ”
“But it must be something funny, and when he looks at it, he shakes his head and remembers that moment. ”
Ricciardo – who will join the McLaren team next year – added that he would be “lying” if he said he wouldn’t be disappointed if he didn’t score a podium in 2020, saying:
“It’s more if the opportunity presents itself and we miss it, I’m sure I’m going to be very disappointed.
“But if I run every race as best as I can and finish sixth in every race, then I probably won’t be devastated. ”
“But I really want to go up there and get a trophy on a robot or whatever they’re doing now [the trophy is brought by a robot since the health crisis]. I miss that.
“And I’ll probably get a fine for drinking out of my shoe, but it’ll be worth it. ”
Despite not scoring a single point in Sunday’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix due to a driving error that sent him back to the back of the pack, Ricciardo says his car has made a big step forward since winter testing.
“I think the car has certainly made a big step forward and that goes back to free practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.
“After such a long break [the lockdown], I jumped into the car and saw how easy and fun it was to drive.
“It’s good and I think scoring 20 points [so far this season] is great. I think we’ve proved that we have a car that can go to Q3.
“Maybe a top five would be a bit of a stretch, but I think the only way to miss Q3 might be to make a mistake on our lap.
“But I think if it all goes well, we should be there. We’ll see what happens here [in Barcelona], but I’m looking forward to getting some more good qualifiers and then turning them into a good race. ”
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Bit of a bust on the qualifiers then, and I don’t think it was down to the drivers?