Daniel Ricciardo's goal for 2019: Take Renault to the next level

Only a few drivers are regarded as good as Daniel Ricciardo. What is worth appreciating about Daniel is that rare is that day where he's not smiling.

An aggressive driver, someone who's always keen in extracting the best from the car and, from his craft, Daniel has made a name for himself by nearly perfecting the art of 'braking late' as they say.

We've seen the kind of results this pure effort has fetched the jovial Australian. But if you were a witness to the 2018 F1 season, you'd have noticed something fundamentally in contrast to seeing the usual, happy racing driver.

In 2018, despite driving a car that, at one point in time, compelled the Australian to lose the zeal for appearing in a Grand Prix, how else would die-hard fans of him have put it, Daniel registered two incredible race wins but endured 8 DNFs.

But, heads weren't raised alone by that starkly polarising result as seen the previous year. Ricciardo was all set to leave Red Bull, once and for all, and move to Renault, where he'd race alongside Nico Hulkenberg attracted an interesting debate.

To this day, one can't deny the truth behind the tight-lippedness of Ricciardo, who's not yet clearly explained the reason for his move to Renault, which, seven in ten would point to Red Bull's decision to partner with Honda as their engine suppliers.

Now, in 2019, as Daniel awaits to begin a new phase of life, all set to star for Renault, the Australian has made no bones about his only focus area, as on now. In case you are wondering what that is, Daniel Ricciardo, who's, like other drivers, comfortably three months away from a live Grand Prix race, wishes to do the best for Renault.

But that's understandable, right? Well, to put it succinctly, here's what Ricciardo shared when asked about his ambition with Renault and what he can bring in for the new season:

“I guess I’m just expecting to carry good work ethic and to bring the people around us to work on what they have. Obviously the driving I will always keep improving, but just try to figure out how to bring the team to the next level."

That said, what remains a subject of intrigue and conjecture would be to see what might the Ricciardo-Hulkenberg partnership bring to the Renault F1 team? For starters, this seems an exciting fire and ice combination with the cool-headedness of Hulkenberg alongside Ricciardo's fiery talent holding the prospect to power the team to something special.