Max Verstappen has claimed that he wants his old friend Daniel Ricciardo to make a return to racing full-time in Formula 1. The charismatic Honey Badger lost his seat at the end of the 2022 season after two horrendous seasons with McLaren. Even though the Australian had managed to claim a victory for McLaren, he just was not able to perform consistently for the Woking outfit.
McLaren dropped Ricciardo at the end of the 2022 season and replaced him with fellow countryman Oscar Piastri. After a few months of uncertainty, Ricciardo made his return to Formula 1 as a reserve driver for his old team Red Bull. He rejoined forces with the team that had helped him win seven grand prix.
Max Verstappen understands that Ricciardo wants to race full time
Verstappen spoke about how Daniel had lost his spark at McLaren. But he is much better now at Red Bull. The reigning world champion explained that he understands that at the end of the day, Ricciardo cannot stay satisfied being a third driver.
The Australian wants to race full-time and Verstappen said that he wants Ricciardo back on the grid as well. “I know he wants to race and I hope for him that he gets a place on the grid again,” said Verstappen.
Ricciardo has said himself that even though he is happy about the current situation, he would want to make a comeback and restart racing in Formula 1. He had mentioned how he had some unfinished business left at Red Bull making it evident that he wants to return to racing at the top level with the Milton Keynes outfit.
Max Verstappen explains Ricciardo’s impact on Red Bull
The return to Red Bull has led to the reunion between Ricciardo and Verstappen. The duo spent three years together at Red Bull as teammates. Ricciardo was the only driver before Sergio Perez who had managed to challenge Verstappen in equal machinery.
Verstappen has claimed that Ricciardo is having an equally good impact as the team’s third driver. When asked what kind of value the Australian added to the team, Verstappen said, “It’s good what he does, how he reintegrated himself, his job behind the scenes, in the simulator”
The Dutch World Champion explained that Ricciardo and he share a very old bond. “He’s a great guy, he’s a lot of fun, we can certainly laugh a lot. But I think for the whole team it’s good to have him with us because he has some interesting ideas. Being here, it’s good for himself too, just to give him back that positive energy which hopefully will give him back a bucket,” said Verstappen
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