Villeneuve saw it coming, but no one believed him

Daniel Ricciardo's move to Renault came as a shock for everyone in Formula 1, except for Jacques Villeneuve, who predicted the Aussie's departure from Red Bull a month ago.

Ricciardo astonished the F1 community last week when he announced his decision to close the curtain on his ten-year association with Red Bull, and switch his allegiance to Renault, which he sees as a full works outfit with bright prospects.

For Villeneuve however, the move is anything but surprising.

"I've been talking about this for a month, but no one believed me," said the 1997 world champion.

"Everyone thought he was staying at Red Bull, but it's great that he's going to Renault. It's a factory team with great resources.

"The cooperation of Red Bull and Honda is not credible. Red Bull is also Max Verstappen's team in the sense that all the attention is on him," he added.

• Hulkenberg sees 'only positives' in having Ricciardo at Renault

Renault Sport F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul admitted there were several options for the French squad's 2019 driver line-up.

Esteban Ocon was on the team's shortlist, but "it didn't work out", said the Frenchman, who also considered keeping Carlos Sainz.

Ultimately however, hiring Ricciardo was an opportunity the manufacturer could not afford to miss.

"It was the only option, besides being the best, for us to have a 100pc Renault drive, it was too great a chance to miss", Abiteboul told RMC Sport.

"We could not afford to not sign him. Only once every two or three years does this occasion arise.

"The next time the train of top drivers comes past, it may be after 2021," he added.

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