Daniel Ricciardo has openly reflected on his decision to leave Red Bull at the end of the 2018 season, describing it as the biggest unanswered question of his Formula 1 career.

The Australian, who raced alongside Max Verstappen for nearly three seasons, left the Milton Keynes-based team just as the Dutch driver was establishing himself as its central figure. Ricciardo moved to Renault in search of a new challenge, but the following years brought mixed results, including a difficult spell at McLaren despite a race win at Monza in 2021.

Looking back, Ricciardo admits he still cannot fully judge whether leaving Red Bull was the right call.

"The most obvious 'what if?' or whatever, especially for people on the outside, is: 'OK, what if you stayed at Red Bull after 2018?'" he said in an interview with The Athletic.

"That's one where I'm like, I don't know if that was the right decision. Certainly, there was a bit of emotion in that, but there were reasons I didn't think it was going to work. There's also a scenario where Max just obliterated me as the years went on, and maybe my career ended even quicker. I don't know," the former Red Bull driver admitted.

Ricciardo’s departure came at a moment when Verstappen’s trajectory was clearly upward, which later led to suggestions that he chose to avoid a direct long-term fight within the team. The Australian, however, rejects that interpretation.

"At the time, I was competitive with Max, and we were pushing each other really well," he said.

During their time together, Ricciardo and Verstappen were closely matched, sharing wins and regularly challenging one another. That balance, combined with internal dynamics, played a role in Ricciardo’s thinking about the future.

"It's just hard. I'm like, sure, maybe I would have still won more races than I ended up winning. But I can't deny that Max is… Max."

Rejecting the idea that he stepped away from the challenge, Ricciardo pointed instead to concerns about how the situation inside the team might develop.

"At the time, some of the narrative was all like, 'Am I kind of running from the fight?' I don't think I was running from the fight. I was just concerned with how things were going to go moving forward. I was more concerned about the team dynamic more than running from a fight," concluded Ricciardo.