Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen raced together for three years at Red Bull and during this time they grew a close bond with each other. Even though Ricciardo left the team back in 2018, and again came back this season, only to leave for the sister team AlphTauri in July, their relationship remained intact. Now, after seeing Verstappen for quite some years, Ricciardo revealed a special personality trait about the two-time world champion that makes him admire the current world champion, as per the recent Talking Bull episode.
After the Dutch driver arrived at Red Bull, he had four teammates in the team so far. Among them, he spent the most time with Ricciardo, a little more than Sergio Perez at the Milton-Keynes-based team. Therefore, the Australian saw Verstappen turn a world champion from a rookie.
Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and George Russell “press conference” #JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/QQdhZJ2V2r
— F1 To Rule Them All (@F1RulesMedia) October 6, 2022
Someone who has seen the defending F1 champion’s rise from scratch knows how he has been during his rookie years and how he is now after claiming two world championships already. On this, the Honey Badger confirmed that the Dutchman didn’t change even after claiming massive success in recent times.
Daniel Ricciardo reveals what makes him admire Max Verstappen
Verstappen is the most sought-after driver in Formula 1 right now. He now has the record of ten back-to-back wins under his belt and is already vying to take this record further. Furthermore, he is inching closer to this third F1 title.
Despite all this, the 34-year-old has full admiration for the Red Bull star. He said on this, “I admire Max for, let’s say, his approach to racing. But also after the success he has had, especially in the last few years, his personality and mentality have not changed. He is not really influenced by the success.”
Interestingly, the Honey Badger mentioned that they both fit well together despite their separation five years back. Even if this is true, they are, unfortunately, in different teams. While Verstappen is the main man at Red Bull, Ricciardo just made his comeback with AlphaTauri.
Can Ricciardo make a comeback to Red Bull?
Daniel Ricciardo made his F1 return with AlphaTauri after eight months following his exit from McLaren at the end of the 2022 F1 season. This was possible after the Red Bull higher-ups decided to drop Nyck de Vries based on poor performance.
As the Honey Badger made his F1 return, he now wants to reignite his F1 journey and go back to Red Bull and race alongside Max Verstappen. However, that will not be possible immediately since Sergio Perez kept Red Bull management happy, for now.
Therefore, it will be interesting to see if the Australian driver manages to do the unthinkable and make his return to the defending champion team. However, he first needs to recover from his wrist injury that he received during the Dutch Grand Prix.
