Understandably, even though he was joined by Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo was the most in-demand driver in the first part of today's FIA press conference at Spa Francorchamps.

However, those hoping that the Australian would cite his reason for leaving Red Bull for Renault was due to his fears of inequality in terms of his teammate or the great unknown in terms of the team's new engine partner were to be left disappointed. In short, the Australian wanted a change of scenery.

Asked if, as has been widely speculated, he felt the team was biased in favour of Verstappen, the Australian replied: "No is the short answer.

"As far as equality went in the team, from the outside people thought that, but hand on heart there was never any concern or sign of that," he added.

Asked if the decision to partner with Honda, had influenced him, he replied: "Nothing was that clear-cut. Honda still really need to prove themselves at the front.

"There wasn't really one key factor other than myself wanting to have a change of scenery," he added. "That was probably the biggest thing, it wasn't necessarily the engine deal or the financials."

Asked to explain the timeline, he admits that even at the time of the post-Hungary test he was undecided.

"It is not something I knew for weeks or months," he said. "It was all pretty much when it got announced right before the break.

"Renault was part of my considerations for a bit of time, they didn't come out of nowhere in the last hour. I was really torn with what to do and that process took time. Still in the race weekend in Budapest I wasn't sure what I was going to be doing. I did the test on Tuesday, and had some time to think about it over those 48 hours and came to my decision. It wasn't easy. There were a lot of factors and variables I had to weigh up in my mind."

The Australian admits that his results in the six races that followed his Monaco win - a run which included two DNFs - didn't help, leaving him feeling "a little bit frustrated".

"I was trying to understand why," he admits. "When I weighed it up, the change of setting, a new challenge, is probably the answer I needed."

Asked about the mood when he telephoned Helmut Marko to give him the news, Ricciardo said: "He's known me for ten years and I think he'd sensed at times some frustration or maybe some things changing in me, so, I don't think it completely surprised him.

"He was a little bit disappointed I was moving on," he continued. "It was nice to know I was wanted there and they wanted to keep me. It was all calm and respectful, so it was all I could ask for."

Subsequently told of Ricciardo's comment, Max Verstappen replied: "A change of scenery? I am not sure it is the best scenery to go to."

Check out our Thursday gallery from Spa, here.