Mark Webber's fears for Daniel Ricciardo's F1 future

Mark Webber has revealed his fears for the Formula One future of fellow Aussie driver Daniel Ricciardo, after the Renault convert endured another disappointing race over the weekend.

Ricciardo had to retire after a bizarre incident which saw a botched overtake ultimately resulting in him reversing his Renault into the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat.

The entire Renault team has been out of sorts in 2019, with Ricciardo’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg also battling a clearly inferior machine in comparison to the team’s main rivals.

Webber said things could change very quickly in F1, and Ricciardo could drift into irrelevance if Renault didn’t get their act together, and fast.

“It happens every race, it’s such a competitive business with so many young guys coming in,” Webber said in an interview with Wide World of Sports.

“Daniel hasn’t forgotten how to drive, but the form guide changes very quickly in this sport.

“A driver’s momentum and his career can be challenged.

“He’s valued, but clearly he’s not in a good position at the moment. That’s obvious. You need results, you need to be drinking the champagne on the podium.

“That’s what concerned me with this move, so let’s hope the team can lift for him and start getting results.

“Every few months, if the performances aren’t there, other managers and agents and young drivers are trying to muscle in, the sport moves on so fast.

“Daniel benefited from it in the past, he was one of the guys that had it on the way up. Now Renault have to deliver for him.”

Renault in dangerous territory: Webber

The nine-time F1 race winner said the sub-par racecar Renault had given Ricciardo was the major source of his problems.

While Webber didn’t buy some of the noise from the Ricciardo camp that the Australian was still adjusting to the new machine, he did admit the team’s poor performances could dent Ricciardo’s confidence.

“As predicted, they’re a long way off, they’ve got a big job to do,” Webber said.

“They’re a team under tremendous pressure already, because their performance doesn’t back up the chat.

“Renault were saying in the off-season they can challenge the top three, but they’re a long way from that.

“It’s been challenging, they’ve got some reliability issues as well, McLaren are belting them with the same engine, which is not good.

“McLaren are a long way down the road at the moment.”