Max Verstappen will “go down as one of the best ever”
Daniel Ricciardo says Max Verstappen will “go down as one of the best ever”, and admits he cannot comprehend what Red Bull has achieved in its first season building its own power units.
Ricciardo was Verstappen’s team-mate at Red Bull from 2016 until the end of 2018, and is now an ambassador for Ford, whose partnership with Red Bull Powertrains made its race debut this season.
The project’s first win came at the Bahrain Grand Prix in October, which was moved to Sepang after the race at Sakhir was cancelled, and Ricciardo got in touch with Verstappen and the team soon afterwards.
“I look back on my time as team-mates with Max very fondly; it was a cool time,” Ricciardo said on the Cars and Culture with Jason Stein podcast. “And yes, there were moments of intense rivalry and competition and all of it, but it made us push ourselves to another level. I loved that.
“Of course, he has gone on and done so much, and he’s going to go down as one of the best ever, no doubt about it. He’s an insane talent.”
The win at Sepang came at a circuit that means a lot to the Australian. He won the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix there, leading Verstappen home in a Red Bull 1-2.
Ten years on, he was just as impressed by what Red Bull had managed.
Daniel Ricciardo, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images
“Every year he has been with Red Bull, he’s won a race. For them to do it, with Ford Racing this year, to come out and win… I can’t even comprehend,” he said.
“I knew a bit about the project and what they were building, but I can’t comprehend everything that has gone into it. And for them to go and win in their first season together, there is no better guy to do it than Max.”
Verstappen has since added wins in Singapore and Mexico, meaning Red Bull now has more grand prix wins than Ferrari this season, with three to the Scuderia’s two. He finished second from 21st on the grid in Brazil on Sunday, and is second in the drivers’ standings as of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Ricciardo, who left F1 in 2024 and launched a collaboration between his Enchante brand and Ford Racing at the start of the year, said he still keeps in touch with people at the team.
“The whole thing has been awesome,” he said. “I sent Max and quite a few others in the team that I still talk with a message after, to share my congrats and happiness.
“It was received well; there are a lot of good people in that team.”
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