Daniel Ricciardo has been away from the F1 spotlight ever since RB sacked him following the Singapore GP earlier this year. But the honey badger has not lost touch with his buddies from the sport, who are currently enjoying a three-week break before the final three races of the season take place. Recently, Ricciardo reunited with former Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen.
Ricciardo and Verstappen, both lovers of padel, decided to take part in a game together, presumably in Monaco, where both reside. However, they didn’t end the evening on a very happy note.
Both ex-Red Bull teammates lost to a 13-year-old, whose picture Ricciardo posted on his Instagram story. “We got humbled yesterday,” the 35-year-old wrote. “13 years old. 6-4 and 6-1, back to the drawing board.”
Considering how much time Verstappen and Ricciardo have spent playing padel—an increasingly popular sport among the F1 community—in their free time, losing to someone so inexperienced relatively must have been disappointing. At the same time, the child could very well be a padel prodigy, someone looking to make it big in the sport.
Pre-season all star padel session pic.twitter.com/zcA8C2Ow1r
— Max Verstappen (@VerstappenCOM) February 26, 2024
Or perhaps Ricciardo and Verstappen (maybe F1 drivers in general) are just bad. Regardless of the results, it was refreshing to see Ricciardo happy, after what was a heartbreaking exit from F1 for him. At one stage this season, it looked as though he would replace an under-fire Sergio Perez at Red Bull, which would make him Verstappen’s teammate again (they were partners between 2016 and 2018).
Unfortunately, Ricciardo’s performances never improved, and Red Bull wanting a younger talent—Liam Lawson—led to the Milton-Keynes-based team pulling the plug on the Perth-born driver’s stint, and possibly even his career. As for Verstappen, he is edging ever closer to winning his fourth consecutive championship this season.
