Daniel Ricciardo’s first podium finish for Renault comes with a special bonus for the Australian driver. He now gets to choose a tattoo for his boss.
Ricciardo and Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul had a wager that the team principal would have to be tattooed with a design of the driver’s choice if he could finish in the top three of a race this season.
Ricciardo managed the feat by finishing third in the Eifel Grand Prix on Sunday, leaving Abiteboul doubtless fretting about what’s in store for him.
The good news for him is that Abiteboul gets to choose where the tattoo goes – ruling out, he said, any ink on the face – but the bad news is that Ricciardo picks the design.
Ricciardo said it will be “probably something to do with me, but with a German flavour” to reflect the race at the Nurburgring.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of brainstorming to do for Cyril’s tattoo,” Ricciardo smiled. “The first one is always a fun one.”
Ricciardo started strongly after qualifying sixth and was elevated into the top three after car problems for Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Lando Norris. His result could have been even better as he even challenged Max Verstappen for second after a safety car restart.
It had been nine years since Renault finished on the podium, with Nick Heidfeld in Malaysia, and it was 31-year-old Ricciardo’s first podium finish since he won the Monaco Grand Prix in a stricken Red Bull two years ago.
“Oh wow, it feels like the first time I ever got a podium,” he enthused. “These emotions and that feeling you get when you get out the car, hug the team, the mechanics slapping you on the helmet, it’s just amazing and I am so happy we did it!
“It’s obviously my first one with Renault and it’s something I wanted to achieve when I set out on this journey with the team. I felt like it was coming with our performances in recent races, so I am so happy to have done it. What a day!”
The Renault name was out of F1 for four years from 2012 through 2016 while the team raced under the Lotus banner.
Renault have struggled to make a mark after their return, but have improved this season and are in a three-way fight with Racing Point and McLaren for third place in the constructors’ championship. They’re all taking advantage of opportunities opened up by Ferrari’s poor campaign.
The Renault team will be renamed Alpine for 2021 to advertise Renault’s sports car brand, and Ricciardo will move to McLaren.