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Former Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo once put on his fan hat and revealed he was a fan of his former teammate Max Verstappen. Ricciardo explained that he liked Verstappen's straightforward and blunt personality and elaborated on why it resonated with Formula 1 fans.
Verstappen and Ricciardo were teammates for three seasons at Red Bull Racing, from 2016 to 2018. Following the young Dutchman's meteoric rise, the Aussie driver left the Red Bull family to join Renault in 2019, before teaming up with Lando Norris at McLaren starting in the 2021 season.
In the latter half of the 2021 season, Daniel Ricciardo appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show, where the host asked him to take off his driver hat and share which F1 driver he was a fan of. The ex-McLaren driver said he liked Max Verstappen's direct, no-nonsense approach and aggressive racing style. He said:
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"For different reasons, I guess, Max Verstappen, because I think he is what he is. If he doesn't wanna talk to someone in the media, like he won't. Some of the Netflix stuff, with the new season, he's said no to a few things. He kind of just has his way and he's just going to stick by it. You get what you see, and I think a lot of people also admire that and like that," said Ricciardo [from 52:36 onwards]
"He might not be the most approachable or the funniest or whatever. He's Max and people know that's what they're gonna get. He's a very hard racer and people like that," he added.
Apart from admiring Max Verstappen's personality, Daniel Ricciardo had plenty of respect for the Red Bull Racing star. He mentioned that he had seen Verstappen mature over the years since his debut as a teenager in Formula 1.
Verstappen's openness and honest opinions resonate with the wider F1 fanbase. His rebellious character and nonchalant attitude toward penalties from the sanctioning body make him a relatable character.
When Daniel Ricciardo reflected on flashpoints with Max Verstappen
On The Ariel Helwani Show, Daniel Ricciardo was subsequently asked to name a driver he was the least a fan of. Ricciardo initially dodged the question by saying he respected all drivers on the 2021 grid, but later touched on his rivalry with Max Verstappen during their time at Red Bull Racing.
With young Verstappen taking over Red Bull in the second half of the 2010s, there was tension between the teammates. Ricciardo reflected on the flashpoints in their rivalry, mentioning the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix, when Verstappen crashed into him on the opening lap.
Tensions boiled over at the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where the two Red Bull drivers crashed into each other after a heated battle. Ricciardo said:
"The years I was at Red Bull, it was Max, we were teammates. We definitely had respect for each other, but today we get on better than we did back then. In Budapest, one year he took me out at the start, I flipped him off. In Azerbaijan, we took each other out, there was definitely some tension. As a rivalry, he's probably been my biggest rival in the years, doesn't mean I don't like him..." [55:08 onwards]
Daniel Ricciardo made his final F1 start at the Singapore Grand Prix for the VCARB F1 team in his second stint in the sport. Although the Aussie has not officially announced his retirement from motorsports, his fans eagerly await his next adventure.
