Victory Verstappen in Barcelona: "Nightmare for a teammate"

Daniel Ricciardo has been riding alongside Max Verstappen for a number of years as a teammate at Red Bull. The Australian was impressed by the Dutchman and learned a lot from him. That Verstappen immediately won his first race was not exactly a dream for Ricciardo.

"Nightmare for a teammate"

When Verstappen became his teammate Ricciardo had to deal with a young driver who was very eager to drive. A few years earlier the Australian was that with Sebastian Vettel so Ricciardo had experience in it. Yet the collaboration started surprisingly because after all Verstappen managed to win his debut race.

"He drove his first race for Red Bull in Barcelona and won it immediately. That is a real nightmare for a team mate. But I kept a cool head and immediately wanted to find a way to stay ahead of him. Because one thing was clear to me: Max is extraordinarily talented and special. He knew exactly what he wanted. Someone who wants you to be 100%. I had to find a balance for myself. Because not only was he very fast, but he also had a lot of supporters behind him. But I also loved challenges like that," Ricciardo said in an interview with F1 insider.

At Red Bull the guys finally managed to bring out the best in each other but Verstappen became the dominant factor.

Limit faster

Ricciardo has learned a number of things from the Dutchman in different areas: "Max is by nature so incredibly fast. He always drove and wanted to go to the extreme and be the fastest. What he did, I had to deal with first. So I had to find my limit faster. But he also taught me to think more technically", concludes Ricciardo.