Verstappen: Ricciardo will miss what he had at Red Bull
- Published on 03 Jan 2019 10:18
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- By: Harry Mattocks
Max Verstappen says he believes Daniel Ricciardo will come to miss what he had at Red Bull, after the Australian decided to switch from Red Bull to Renault for the 2019 season.
After months of assessing his options having conversations with several different teams, including McLaren and Mercedes, the Honey Badger came to the conclusion that Renault was the best fit for him.
Verstappen and Ricciardo have had their differences at Red Bull since they became teammates in 2016, but always managed to resolve them and remain on good terms. Even though they are friends, Verstappen does not believe that he will miss Ricciardo.
"Personally I won’t miss him but he was fun and pleasant to have as a team mate," Verstappen told Algemeen Dagblad.
"That doesn’t happen often and perhaps it won’t happen again. But will I miss him? I believe Daniel will miss what he had here."
Some believe that Ricciardo had concerns about the energy drink manufacturer's switch to Honda power, but Verstappen does not share them.
"Honda’s whole attitude and the plans they have, it’s totally different compared to what we were used to with Renault," said the 21-year-old.
"With Renault we always had to push. It always had to come from us and it was usually ignored. Now it is the other way around and we are pushed to supply parts.
"They need gearboxes and things like that from us, which are really not that easy to make. But Honda just wants to test, test, test. They do more kilometers than I do on the circuit," he added.
"Maybe it will not be enough to compete at every circuit. But we have to make steps during the season so that we can certainly compete for the title from the beginning of 2020."
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Replies (9)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Maybe he will, maybe he wont. Im inclined to agree, but please be a bit more silent and patient Max.
Olfacius
Posts: 31
Agree 100%.
...to your comment that is.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
I agree with you too. His whole tone just comes off as arrogant. I don't thin he'll miss that.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I feel like Max is always putting up a front, presenting himself as uncaring and unemotional. He obviously liked Daniel, and he deflected the damn question multiple times during that interview. As if saying "yeah, Daniel was good fun" would harm him in some way. But whatever, I do agree the Ricciardo will miss some things from RBR. Daniel was a great fit with the brand. Better than any other driver at Red Bull. Daniel is brash, extroverted, informal, aggressive. That's Daniel. So I think RBR will miss him even more, especially since his replacement is that french wanker boy.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Agree fully, Ricciardo was all Red Bull would've wished for. A great driver (good lord I hope we'll still get to see him do his iconic lunges for next year), a welliked team mate and a marketable lad. I think he'll be a great asset to any team, mind. I really hope Gasly will be good, but he wont be Ricciardo, and while I will cheer for RB next year due to my duties as a member of the glorious nippon race, it woulda been easier to cheer for them with him around.
Kean
Posts: 692
I wish my faith in Honda was as high as Max's. Sure last year was a step forward, but they're still on the back foot. I doubt they will have gotten their act together by the start of 2019. Likely they'll be fast over one lap (with Red Bull), but I suspect we will see tuned down engine modes from Honda during the race due to fuel consumption, and also many dnf's.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
In this report they asked what difference in between working with Honda vs Renault. He doesn't state at all that they are going to be faster he states that the working processes are different with Honda. Ricciardo might miss they way that Redbull handle their drivers or he might not, one thing I do know is that he has an better understanding about Ricciardo than we have.
If Honda does improve by a larger than expected margin they will claw back some of the engine disparity that has existed too long already. I find it refreshing to hear that Verstappen believes in Honda something that is needed to upset the current leaders. If they can bring on Toro Rosso with them as well it will be even an better season in 2019. However for me 2018 has been one of the best for years.
The fuel limit goes up next year so I doubt that the Honda engine will have fuel saving issues.
Still I would have loved to see Ricciardo their another year, but that ship has sailed.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Fuel was supposedly fine for Honda this year, the problem is the turbo and MGU-H. Considering they will be getting help with those for next year, I think we should be able to notice some degree of progress. But time will tell. These are some interesting times for sure.
blade
Posts: 341
You've got to applaud RIC for taking the bold decision - it would have been easy to stay with RBR but he didn't. Renault are a seriously big company and can complete with the top teams - if they want to. Feels a bit like premiership football to me - you can spend 10s of millions and not make any gains if the team isn't right....it's hard to criticise Renault for not making more progress - we just don't know the facts. I sincerely hope that Renault progress in this period and at the very least close the gap a little on the top 3, this could provide the odd podium chance in 2019 - anything more than this is pipe dream territory.