Daniel Ricciardo Reminisces About Max Verstappen’s Reckless Style of Driving: “If I Crash, I Crash”

Max Verstappen made his F1 debut in 2015 and has gone on to become one of the greatest drivers in history. Back in his early days, however, he had a reputation for being ultra-aggressive which often led to incidents on the track. Ahead of the Las Vegas GP this weekend, his former teammate Daniel Ricciardo reminisces about Verstappen’s non-pragmatic approach to racing.

Verstappen and Ricciardo were teammates at Red Bull between 2016 and 2018. Hence, the two of them know each other quite well. In a conversation with TIME ahead of the inaugural Vegas race, Ricciardo talks about Verstappen and his driving style.

LAP 40/51

VERSTAPPEN AND RICCIARDO CRASH!

Unbelievable… both out 😱#AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Up9R18oBPo

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 29, 2018

“He didn’t really care about taking a pragmatic approach,” the honey badger said. “He was like, ‘I’m just gonna go and drive this thing and try to drive the wheels off of it. If I crash, I crash.’”

Ricciardo knows all about Verstappen’s aggressive style as the two have come together on track on several occasions. Most notably, fans recall their infamous crash in Azerbaijan back in 2018, which resulted in a double DNF for the Milton-Keynes-based team. Nevertheless, Ricciardo is aiming to get back in the saddle as he looks to become Verstappen’s teammate once again.

Daniel Ricciardo wants to team up with Max Verstappen again

Ricciardo left Red Bull in 2019 in search of a new challenge. However, it is safe to say that things haven’t quite worked out for the Perth-born driver. Two underwhelming years in Renault and two disastrous years at McLaren forced him to return to the Red Bull camp in 2023.

Now driving for AlphaTauri (Red Bull’s sister team), Ricciardo is eyeing the coveted Red Bull seat. Considering the fact that their current driver Sergio Perez is struggling to perform, Ricciardo will be relishing the thought of driving a race winning car once again.

“Do you miss me?”

We reunited Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen at the SkyPad for an ‘insightful’ look at their practice laps 😂

Tune into our build-up to qualifying for the #SingaporeGP to watch this hilarious piece with the two former teammates! pic.twitter.com/yfjtV6L66O

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 21, 2019

Ricciardo won seven races during his time at Red Bull. In the last two races this season, and in the following campaign, the Aussie will be looking to impress the Red Bull bosses enough to get a shot at being Verstappen’s teammate once again.

Currently, Ricciardo is 17th in the driver’s standings with six points to his name. It is fair to say that AlphaTauri’s performance and results have seen a boost since he made a return to the sport.