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verstappen on ricciardo's departure in belgium

Ricciardo departure drawback Verstappen and Red Bull? Max responds

27 July 2023 at 16:20
Last update 27 July 2023 at 18:45
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  • Toby McLuskie

As Red Bull Racing's test and reserve driver, Daniel Ricciardo spent the necessary hours in the Austrian racing stable's simulator. Now that the Australian has permanently returned to Formula 1 at AlphaTauri, preparing with the virtual RB19 is no longer an option. According to Max Verstappen, Red Bull is therefore making some concessions, but it is not a disaster.

Indeed, Verstappen is especially happy that his former teammate is back among 20 regular drivers on the F1 grid. "Honestly, I'm happy that he's back in the car. I would always prefer him in a car than being our reserve because he deserves to be in the car. So we'll deal with that loss. I'm happy to deal with that loss as long as he's in the car," Verstappen revealed to GPblog and others.

Last week, Ricciardo made his debut in the AT04 at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The 34-year-old driver, like so many was lapped by winner Verstappen, but he did finish ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda with a P13. A day earlier, Ricciardo was also faster than his Japanese teammate.

Strong comeback Ricciardo

What did Verstappen think of Ricciardo's first race in AlphaTauri colours? "I think he had a very, very strong first weekend. I mean, already in practice qualifying and then of course he had bad luck in turn one and then he still fought his way back to P13. So I think for that first weekend, he did a great job."