When Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo Wore Skeleton Masks to the Paddock to Celebrate ‘Day of the Dead’

Red Bull is an F1 team that is always known for doing things differently. This includes their pre-race promotional activities, where the drivers end up doing something unique, to stand out. Some of the most memorable promotional moments for the team took place at the 2016 Mexican GP and it involved Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Día de Muertos or ‘Day of the Dead’ is a festival that is annually celebrated in Mexico, and often coincides with the F1 race that takes place in Mexico City every year. At the 2016 Grand Prix, Ricciardo and Verstappen showed up to the paddock wearing skeleton masks. Even though it is part of a ritual locally, members in the paddock got scared at the sight of the two Red Bull drivers sporting this mask.

The skeleton masks are often paired with matching skeleton outfits by the locals in Mexico, as it is a festival that honors the deceased. To celebrate local customs like Red Bull does often, Ricciardo and Verstappen decided to join in on the festivities along with the millions of Mexicans.

2016 was Verstappen’s first year at Red Bull, and he took the F1 world by storm. In his debut race for the team, he won the Spanish GP, breaking a record by becoming the youngest race winner of all time.

Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull bromance

During their time together as teammates between 2016 and 2018, Ricciardo and Verstappen developed a fairly good relationship off the track. They were involved in several programs together, where they appeared to be having fun, with Verstappen’s wit and Ricciardo’s sense of humor.

On the track, however, the story was completely different. Ricciardo, who wasn’t ready to lose the tag of number one driver at Red Bull following Daniil Kvyat’s departure felt that Verstappen was getting favored. This led to many on-track altercations between the two, including their infamous 2018 Azerbaijan GP crash.

At the end of the 2018 season, Ricciardo, in search of a new challenge, left Red Bull for Renault. Verstappen meanwhile, went on to win two world championships with the Milton Keynes-based outfit and his well on his way to securing his third.

Ricciardo’s Red Bull return

Ricciardo spent two seasons at Renault, where two podium finishes weren’t enough to fuel his ambition. He decided to join a team that was on an apparent ascendency -McLaren- but it turned out to be disastrous move. His nightmarish two-year stint of disappointments at McLaren ended in 2022, and he decided to return home.

Ricciardo moved back to Red Bull, but because of Sergio Perez’s place in the team, he is the third driver. Currently he is helping them out with simulator work and marketing appearances, but will get behind the wheel of the RB19 later this year for a Pirelli tyre test.