Palmer admits Ricciardo departure a pity given good form

Daniel Ricciardo has achieved his first podium for Renault, but will leave at the end of this season. The question now is whether the Australian left too early and has he made the wrong choice with McLaren?

You have to be in the right place at the right time. A top team doesn't change drivers that fast anymore, so you have to be in the right place before a team becomes top team. How do you recognise that? It is a problem for many drivers. Fernando Alonso, for example, often chose wrongly and Daniel Ricciardo faces the same issue.

''It is a pity that he has signed for McLaren, after all the good momentum they are now building together. Ricciardo stands for both drivers of McLaren and you are going to wonder whether you have made the right choice. However, McLaren is also on a good track and with the Mercedes engine there are big chances from 2021," said Jolyon Palmer in his column for the BBC.

Renault will be frustrated according to the former F1 driver, but the team can also look positively to the future. ''At the moment Ricciardo shows he was worth the money, but the plan was to lead the team to more. However, that disappointment is tempered by the arrival of Fernando Alonso. Despite turning forty in 2021, he still has the speed, experience and drive to perfection to let the team make that step to the top," concluded the Brit.