Daniel Ricciardo always had a ‘good relationship’ with Max, apart from one moment

Back with Red Bull this season, Daniel Ricciardo says he always had a “pretty good relationship” with Max Verstappen, apart from Baku 2018 that is.

Ricciardo and Verstappen were team-mates from 2016 to 2018, the drivers at different stages of their careers.

While Ricciardo was trying to cement himself as a championship challenger, Verstappen was the young star and, as time went by, all the signs pointed to him being the future of Red Bull.

That was made clear when the team-mates crashed at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ricciardo flying into the back of Verstappen. Their team bosses initially fumed at both drivers but it wasn’t long before the finger was pointed solely at Ricciardo.

“He was the one who drove into Verstappen,” said Red Bull team boss Helmut Marko. “If Verstappen wasn’t there, he would have gone straight.”

Ricciardo walked away from Red Bull at the end of the 2018 season, swapping to Renault and then McLaren before re-signing with his former team as their 2023 reserve driver.

He doesn’t believe there’ll be any issues with Verstappen, the two often spotted joking with one another in the years since his departure.

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“Obviously there was the clash in Baku,” he said as per the Dutch edition of Motorsport.com

“But apart from that, I think we’ve always had a pretty good relationship. Very competitive, of course, but also a very good personal relationship, and we also communicate via SMS and stuff.”

Ricciardo applauds ‘matured’ Verstappen

Ricciardo revealed he’s been impressed to watch Verstappen mature over the years, the Dutchman now a two-time World Champion with Red Bull.

But he reckons the success hasn’t gone to the 25-year-old’s head.

“It’s been really, really nice to be back, with the team of course, but also with Max,” added the Honey Badger.

“I also think that in the few years that I’ve spent away from the team now, I’ve seen him grow, like he has matured. Certainly as a driver, but I think also as a person.

“Obviously since I’ve been away he’s been a two-time World Champion. So it’s nice to see his success and development as a driver.

“But I think he’s held up really well. And to be honest he seems pretty to be unchanged, apart from having matured as a person.”

Baku was ‘a piece’ in Ricciardo’s decision to leave Red Bull

Ricciardo has previous admitted that his Azerbaijan clash with Verstappen and Red Bull’s handling of it was one of the “little pieces” behind his Red Bull exit.

Speaking to the media in the build up to his first season Renault in early 2019, he revealed the way the team handled it “didn’t sit too well” with him, Red Bull putting the blame firmly on the Aussie’s shoulders.

Ricciardo didn’t see it that way.

“I couldn’t tell you how many little pieces made up the puzzle, the kaleidoscope, but I guess that was one of the little pieces,” he said when asked about his reasons for leaving the Milton Keynes team.

“We both got a talking to, putting it politely, but in my eyes, I guess the incident itself was…I felt like I was not really in the wrong even though I was the one that hit him. I think most people saw the double move [Verstappen made in defence].

“I guess the way it was handled at the time didn’t sit too well with me, so that was like a little thing that bothered me. But it wasn’t the deal breaker, if you know what I mean.”

He added: “I kind of felt like there was a bit of equal blame. And maybe that is me being a stubborn race car driver, but I didn’t feel it was an equal incident I guess. That is the easiest way to put it.”