Ricciardo jealous of Verstappen: 'I would have loved to have been in that'

Daniel Ricciardo watched somewhat jealously the exciting title fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The Australian would love to compete in such a title fight himself and hopes to make it happen with McLaren.

Ricciardo was known as one of the best drivers in Formula 1. The Australian worked his way up in F1 at Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing, but entered the Austrian racing stable just after its successful years. He left for Renault and after two years he chose McLaren as his new project. In 2021, however, things did not go as expected.

Ricciardo is therefore not satisfied with his first season at Woking. He enjoyed some great moments including his win at Monza, but over the whole season, he was comfortably beaten by Lando Norris. Not what you expect from a great driver with already eight wins to his name.

Ricciardo tells opposite Auto, Motor und Sport that he has found a nice family at McLaren. He had a difficult season but received the necessary support from his new team. Ricciardo got tough under the wing of Helmut Marko but says himself that he really liked the love he got at McLaren.

Ricciardo, therefore, hopes that his McLaren project will be a success. ''I'm not hunting (for a better team). I've switched teams a lot in recent years, but I like McLaren very much and want this project to succeed.'' Still, Ricciardo did watch the duel between Verstappen and Hamilton with some jealousy.

''Of course, I am jealous of that. Those two (Lewis and Max) met in 75 percent of the races. I would have loved to have been a part of that. It's been a long time since Hamilton was challenged like that. It's great that two drivers from a different generation are competing,'' Ricciardo concludes.