F1: Ricciardo gave up top money and ride with Red Bull for pride

Daniel Ricciardo swapped the race-winning Red Bull and a big paycheck for 4th-best Renault in 2019 because his pride was hurt that his teammate Max Verstappen was schooling him.

“We put offers in front of him that were stratospheric. But Daniel could see Max in the ascendancy and he didn’t want to become the second driver,” he told The Weekend Australian.

The Australian, now with McLaren, is still getting schooled by Verstappen, makes less money and has zero chance of becoming a World Champion.

“His timing was spectacularly bad because, obviously, he had doubts about the Honda engine and then [Honda] went on to prove there it was a competitive power unit and a race-winning package. Daniel is a great driver, and we were sad when he decided to leave the team here,” he added.

Since then, Ricciardo’s struggles have only multiplied. Despite the victory in Monza last season, he’s been overshadowed by teammate Lando Norris, who secured a long-term contract until the end of 2025, and now McLaren find themselves stuck at the back of the midfield.

And recently Ricciardo, frustrated, has mentioned retirement as something he is looking at, but that the new Las Vegas race has him so excited he may postpone the decision a bit.