Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Pérez both spent 58 race weekends as Max Verstappen’s teammates. The injured Australian therefore knows Verstappen well, and indicates that he also admires him. Ricciardo returned to the Formula 1 grid in Hungary after being the third driver for Red Bull Racing, but broke his metacarpal in Zandvoort.
According to the latest reports, Ricciardo will probably also miss the Grands Prix in Singapore and Japan, and a return to Qatar seems most likely. In that case, he will probably be back just in time to attend Verstappen’s world championship party. Verstappen joined Red Bull in 2016 and worked with Ricciardo for almost three years. The 34-year-old Australian left for Renault after 2018 and returned to the old nest through two disappointing McLaren years.
Verstappen has kept his feet on the ground
Ricciardo, along with his former race engineer Simon Rennie, was a guest on the Talking Bull podcast, although Ricciardo did so back in July, for his first race at AlphaTauri. ‘Max was of course my teammate for a number of years. We always had fun together when we were teammates, and laughed a lot,” Ricciardo recalls. Our bond has remained very good in recent years. I admire Max for his approach to racing, but also because he has always remained the same after his successes in recent years. He has not been influenced by his successes, which is easier said than done and that is certainly something I admire,” said a complimentary Ricciardo.
Ricciardo is a contemporary of the 33-year-old Pérez, and therefore knows the Mexican well. “Checo (Pérez, ed.) and I both entered Formula 1 during the 2011 season.” Pérez made his debut with Sauber at the start of the season, while Ricciardo made his debut for HRT at Silverstone. “I also get along well with him, and it’s nice to see how he interacts with the team. Max is obviously very, very strong, so it’s nice to see where Pérez’s strengths lie. It’s nice to watch that from the background. Before Checo got the seat, there was uncertainty whether he would be on the grid, so that he came back like this is a good story.’
