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Ricciardo explains how he helped Verstappen be successful in F1
- Corwin Kunst
Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen remain great friends on the F1 grid, even as they had their differences during the time they competed against each other at Red Bull Racing. The current VCARB driver opened up about their time as teammates, and also made the claim that the Dutchman has the chance to become the "greatest" Formula One driver ever.
'Learning to respect your rivals'
"I think back to those days as teammates … he came in with a lot of hype and doing some great things but I was trying to make my mark too," Ricciardo looks back. "We were both fighting for our spot at the top, so naturally there is some competitiveness and some tension, a rivalry. So when we weren’t directly competing against each other as team-mates after 2018, that removed a little bit of the defensive shield between us."
The worst moment for the two happened at the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when they crashed into each other entering Turn 1. According to the Australian, their conflict never got out of hand.
"On top of that, you just mature – I did, he did," the Perth driver continued. "When you’re young, your mindset is to not have much respect for your opponents. Everyone is the enemy, it’s dog eat dog. As you get older, you just naturally respect your rivals more. There’s a general level of maturity. Surviving in the sport as long as we have, there’s a respect. You spend more time around each other and see the human side behind the competitiveness."
How did Ricciardo help Verstappen get better
Ricciardo left Red Bull in the 2019 season, when he joined Renault. For the Australian, after he then joined McLaren, there was one Grand Prix win left until now, while Verstappen is a three-time world champion. He however thinks that in some way, he had some part in the Dutchman becoming successful in the competition.
"I reckon I’ve probably been able to rub off on some people in a positive way, that little bit more joking way, more carefree. Whether that’s rubbed off a little bit on Max … I’m not going to take full credit, maybe just a bit of it! But, jokes aside, I’ve got no problems saying he could go down maybe as the greatest of all time. There’s no ego in the way of that for me, it’s just a respect for what he’s done – and what he’s still doing," Ricciardo concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
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