Honda Racing’s Thanks Day event was a hit this year. Honda organizes this day annually, getting its affiliated drivers from different forms of motorsport for a fun one-day of events. Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, and Yuki Tsunoda were the F1 representatives this year. However, amid all the on-track fun, there was some off-track banter as well from Verstappen and Ricciardo.
In a media interaction footage on X (formerly Twitter), the Aussie driver is seen replying to a question probably around his 2024 expectations. He said, “Oh, World champion.” Hearing this, Verstappen couldn’t control himself with some playful cheering from backstage.
Max being the biggest daniel supporter pic.twitter.com/ucw8vFj188
— Sem¹ ☆☆☆ (@Semmieeef1) December 4, 2023
The 3X champion exclaimed, “Let’s gooo Daniel!!! Woooooooo!” This made the audience erupt to see the sarcastic yet wholesome expression of feelings from Verstappen. Ricciardo further mentioned that he hopes that the reigning champ can give them some leeway to compete.
Fans adore Verstappen’s gesture after Ricciardo states Championship ambitions
Max Verstappen cheering for Daniel Ricciardo at Honda’s event was a moment all fans loved on social media. It perhaps shows the camaraderie this duo has developed after all those rivalry days at Red Bull 5 years ago. Many fans took to X to react on the same.
literally broke the wall to get to daniel if it aint love idk what is https://t.co/2i063D0crX
— eloise (Taylor’s Version) (@eloise43237334) December 5, 2023
The Verstappen-Ricciardo bromance is often social media fans adore. Max breaking the makeshift wall to cheer his old mate is a peak ‘Maxiel’ bromance moment!
he is hyping his husband as he should
— vic ³ ⁵⁵ ¹⁶ (@ricciarg) December 4, 2023
Whether Ricciardo can be in a competitive car next season is difficult to say. With AlphaTauri going into a rebranding and closer collaboration with RBR, he could have a better, faster car for sure. Thus, the confidence from the Aussie!
Max will start beef with George over who the real president of Ric Nation is pic.twitter.com/gjVB1kKeZJ
— Jo (@itsIightsout) December 4, 2023
Regardless, the bond between Verstappen and Ricciardo is adorable. One wonders whether they would again collide on the track like 2017-18 if given the chance. It happened at Honda’s event already, albeit not in F1 machinery.
Max Verstappen gets spun around by Daniel Ricciardo
The former Red Bull duo had an intense duel in a karting race at Honda’s event. Besides them, even Perez, Tsunoda, and F2 prodigy Ayumu Iwasa were also participating in this race. While all of them showed a top level of competitiveness throughout, Ricciardo took it to another level with his old teammate.
The Honey Badger showed his late-braking skills and cut a corner while Verstappen took the normal racing line. He went straight into the Dutchman’s kart, spinning him around. This naturally put Max out of contention for the race win.
“THEY HAVE CRASHED THEY HAVE GONE INTO EACH OTHER Daniel Ricciardo, late breaking couldn’t stop in time. MAX VERSTAPPEN was right in front of him AND THE TWO REDBULLs HAVE BEEN TOUCHING AND BANGING ALL AFTERNOON.. THEY HAVE HAD ONE BANG TO MUCH” pic.twitter.com/uMFU4HhKGS
— A ☀️ (@formulayna) December 3, 2023
This is not the first time Ricciardo and Verstappen have collided on track. While it used to be intense in the aftermath of these clashes back in their RBR days, it is all water under the bridge. The duo often joke about those incidents playfully nowadays.
This was evident as the three-time champion made a similar remark about Ricciardo’s aggressive racing post-race. He said, “The race started off quite well, but then Daniel [Ricciardo] decided to be a terrorist. He was literally trying to kill everyone out there.”
