Ricciardo: 'That's why Verstappen was harder as a teammate than Vettel'

Daniel Ricciardo has looked back at duels with former teammates at Sport Bild. For example, he drove against four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel but seemed to have a much easier time against him than later against Max Verstappen.

Ricciardo wins over Vettel

Ricciardo made his debut at Red Bull Racing in 2014, after two strong seasons at Toro Rosso. He had to replace his compatriot Mark Webber at the main team and got to sit in the team that had just won the world title four times in a row. He also got Vettel as a teammate, but Ricciardo won from him in his first year.

In his first year for Red Bull Racing, the car may not have been the best on the grid, but Ricciardo still managed three victories. Vettel left for Ferrari at the end of that year, with 71 points less than Ricciardo. When asked by the German media if Vettel was much easier as a teammate than Verstappen, Ricciardo had to laugh.

Verstappen got better and better

''So it seems on paper. I had a very strong year against him. Sebastian was older and at the peak of his career. There was less margin for him to get even better as a four-time world champion'' says the current McLaren driver now seven years later.

With Verstappen, Ricciardo had more trouble later. There he felt from the start that Verstappen was continuously improving, and that made for a tricky situation. ' 'That's why it was more difficult against him,'' Ricciardo says of that, who himself packed up and left Red Bull Racing at the end of 2018.