Ricciardo: 'Verstappen has grown as a person'

Anyone thinking of the period when Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo both drove for Red Bull Racing mostly thinks of how the two were often fooling around. Ricciardo left the team after the 2018 season. Now, years later, he is once again a colleague of Verstappen's and he speaks highly of the Dutchman.

In 2018, the relationship between the two was briefly tested during the incident in Baku in which Ricciardo collided with the back of Verstappen's car and the teammates both recorded DNFs. Despite this the Australian is convinced that this did not seriously damage their relationship, he told Motorsport-Total. He does note that they are still competitors in racing, but have good contact on a personal level.

'Verstappen has grown up'

The Australian will take the spare seat at the Austrian team next year, after a couple of years driving for Renault and McLaren, and he is looking forward to working with the Dutchman again:

"It's really nice to be back here, obviously with the team, but also with Max. I also think that in the few years I have not been with the team I have been able to see how he has grown, how he has matured. Certainly as a driver, but I think also as a person."

Ricciardo believes that winning two world championships has not changed the Dutchman's personality, for the better. He further indicates that contact with both Verstappen and Sergio Perez will increase once he starts the "heavier" work in the simulator.