“I have to say Max”– Daniel Ricciardo picks Max Verstappen over Lando Norris

“I have to say Max”– Daniel Ricciardo points at Max Verstappen when asked about who is better between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

Max Verstappen is touted as the next best Formula 1 driver after Lewis Hamilton on the current grid, but at the same time, Verstappen’s contemporaries are rising.

Lando Norris, who have registered two podiums in his short career, has been gaining prominence. Daniel Ricciardo, who has been paired up with both, though with Norris, he has joined forces only recently, was asked about the comparison between them.

For Ricciardo, it was not a tough answer, and he picked up Red Bull’s doyen Verstappen. “I mean, I have to say Max,” said Ricciardo to  EFTM.com. “But it’s probably just based off I’ve had more experience with him.”

“But I mean, judging by like the last weekend at Imola, Lando certainly raced really well.”

I know when to pick battles.

Ricciardo realizes that Norris is more used to the McLaren car than him, and recently in Imola, he was asked to make way for the Briton, though Ricciardo didn’t make a big deal out of it.

“The competitor in me is like, obviously, I want to stay in front. But, it’s just like maturity and experience now, but I acknowledge that basically, I wasn’t quick enough.”

“And I think I’m my biggest critic. So in my head, I’m like, if I was quick enough, I would have pulled away and not been in that position. So it’s not like the team was holding me back so that Lando could have that position?”

“It was all on me. And obviously, I’m not up to speed yet as much as I want. So, yeah, just take that one on the chin and figure out a way to be better, as opposed to jump up and down. And I certainly don’t want to create any friction in the team, in race two, that’s for sure.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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