Max Verstappen Credits Daniel Ricciardo for Title-Winning Move On Lewis Hamilton

Sabyasachi Biswas | 23/04/2023
Max Verstappen Credits Daniel Ricciardo for Title-Winning Move On Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen’s late lunge on Lewis Hamilton to take over the lead of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is a scene hardly anyone will forget. Despite trailing the race throughout, the Red Bull ace managed to pick up the win in the end, similar to his former teammate Daniel Ricciardo. It is now believed that the Dutchman has taken his inspiration from the Australian.

After Michael Masi gave the fateful call on a cold night in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen pulled off a brilliant move to snatch his first world championship. As it stands, the Dutch pilot might have repeated what his former teammate has done back in the day.

In a video released by Red Bull on YouTube in 2018, the then teammates Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo sat for a chit-chat on F1. There, the Hasselt-born asked the Honey Badger to name his favorite race apart from F1.

Talking about this, the former McLaren star mentioned his junior days of racing when he beat Valtteri Bottas right on the last lap and took his victory. Two Red Bull icons defeated two Mercedes stars, on the last lap. Iconic.

How did Ricciardo win the race?

Talking about the race win against the former Mercedes star, he described, “June the 10th, 2008, Silverstone, Race two. Formula 1 Renault Cup, Me versus Valtteri Bottas. Passed him on the last lap and [took] the race win.”

Recalling the race, Verstappen said he might have seen the race on YouTube. Ricciardo went on to say that the race was a good one as the Finnish driver dominated all weekend, was in pole position, and pulled away right at the start.

“I don’t know how, but I just hung with him, and the last lap he blocked, and I was able to get it. So thanks Valtteri, nothing’s changed,” concluded the former Renault star.

Latest development urged Hamilton fans to request overturn of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP result

In the latest development, Lewis Hamilton fans argued that their star driver deserves the 2021 title. This comes right after the FIA overturned the decision of penalizing Fernando Alonso in Saudi Arabia.

The Spanish driver was slapped with a ten seconds time penalty, which made him lose the podium place. However, after Aston Martin protested, his place was given back.

This fuelled the fans to propel a move to strip Verstappen off the 2021 title and give it to Hamilton despite urges to move on. The fans managed to gather almost 150,000 signatures already, with a target to reach more. However, it is unlikely that these signatures will have any effect on the final result.

Post Edited By: Samriddhi Jaiswal
Daniel Ricciardo Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Valtteri Bottas

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Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.

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