"There was that ‘it’ factor": Daniel Ricciardo shares first impression of Max Verstappen ahead of latter's 200th race

Daniel Ricciardo has recalled his first impressions of Max Verstappen when he first joined Red Bull in 2016. Among other memories he shared, the Australian explained that the unbothered nature of Verstappen caught his attention.

Verstappen first joined F1 in 2015 with Toro Rosso (currently RB), which is Red Bull's B-team in the sport. He quickly impressed the team seniors and was promoted to Red Bull Racing in 2016 to be alongside Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo was in F1 for a few years before Verstappen, and with this experience was able to gauge the young Dutchman.

Speaking on Red Bull's official website, Ricciardo recalled how Verstappen jumped in a Red Bull F1 car for the first time and caught the Australian's eye with his "unfazed nature." caught his eye. He added that he felt the then-young Dutchman was seemingly not affected by the pressure that most new drivers might feel.

"He jumped in the Red Bull car for the first time for practice and was on it. I saw more than just speed...it was more that he was so unfazed by everything. With so many sports, so many athletes, that’s the bigger thing – who can do it once the eyes are on them, when the pressure is on and the lights are bright," Ricciardo said.

That, for me...his very first time when all eyes were on him, he just didn’t seem bothered by any of it. You couldn’t not notice it. There was that ‘it’ factor that was very evident straight away," he added.

Verstappen won his first F1 race with Red Bull in Spain, becoming the youngest F1 winner in history. After that, the Dutchman continued to bag podiums and race wins in the coming seasons, before becoming a world champion in 2021, after an intense title battle with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.

In 2024, he will be racing in his 200th Grand Prix in his home country at the F1 Dutch GP.

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Max Verstappen reckons he might retire before reaching 400th Grand Prix mark

Max Verstappen recently discussed the possibility of retiring before reaching the 400 Grand Prix milestone in his F1 career.

Given the Dutch F1 GP will be his 200th race, the Dutchman was asked if he would like to race for the next 200 races. The Red Bull driver instantly replied "No," before adding that he felt he had achieved 200 races very rapidly.

"No. Nice and easy, yeah. So we passed halfway for sure, but it's been already, of course, an incredible ride. 200, yeah, I mean, it doesn't feel like 200, but of course we're doing a lot of races now in a year, so you add them quite quickly," Verstappen said.

In his 199 races so far, Verstappen has won 61 and stood on 107 podiums. Before the Dutch GP, he leads the 2024 F1 drivers' championship table with 277 points.