Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were teammates at Red Bull from 2016 till 2018 and endured some very frosty moments.
Ricciardo and Verstappen never had a bad relationship, but sometimes it was tested due to both of their competitive natures. The most famous example that comes to mind is that of the 2018 Azerbaijan GP when they crashed into each other.
However, another incident happened that very year, in Spielberg. During Qualifying ahead of the Austrian GP, the Red Bull team had to manage tensions between the while out on track.
Daniel Ricciardo & Max Verstappen crashing during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 🇦🇿#F1
Who do you think was at fault? #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/NE1uwgUufH
— Motorsport Images (@MSI_Images) April 29, 2018
Ricciardo was out in front of Verstappen, but was reluctant to go fast. During qualifying, a driver always prefers staying in front of their teammate. This is because, the latter can punch a hole in the air for them, which means lesser resistance.
Verstappen asked his race engineer why the Aussie was going slow. Despite instructing him to pick speed up, he was reluctant to do so. This led to the team ordering Verstappen to pass Ricciardo. To add to the tension, the Dutch driver himself refused to follow the instruction as well.
Max Verstappen would not pass Daniel Ricciardo because of “discipline”
No driver would prefer being ahead of their teammate during a Qualifying run. Red Bull however, were nervous because there wasn’t a lot of time left on the clock, and they wanted both their drivers to set up a good lap time.
“There’s no point me running and punching a hole, let’s at least go one for one?” Ricciardo asked on the radio.
“Get on with it,” was the reply he got, as his team urged him to pick up the pace. When they got worried about whether they could set up another time, Verstappen was asked to pass Ricciardo, he refused.
“No! Last weekend I was in front, now he’s in front,” Verstappen insisted. “Come on man, no, it’s discipline.”
Verstappen ended up qualifying P5 for the race, two places above his teammate. Sebastian Vettel however, got a penalty which promoted him to fourth place on the grid. The Dutchman drove a splendid race, to win the 2018 Austrian GP eventually.
