Red Bull, Verstappen: “In Red Bull I had to raise my level against Ricciardo”

Max Verstappen is considered one of the most crystalline talents of this Formula 1, thanks to outstanding performances despite his young age. Max, in fact, made his debut in the top flight last season, amid general skepticism. He was chosen alongside him in Toro Rosso Carlos Sainz jr., a young Spanish driver, son of the well-known rally driver, who certainly didn't hold back on the track, not even in duels with his teammate.

The two were on the same team for a year and four races, until the Red Bull has not decided to bring Verstappen to the parent company, demoting Daniil Kvyat to Toro Rosso. The young Dutchman believes he won the duel with the Spaniard, even if it is difficult to judge as both were making their debuts last season: “It was a good fight and it's always good if you're the one getting promoted at Red Bull, so this shows that I did a great job in Toro Rosso,” the Red Bull driver told F1i.com -. “I learned a lot from the battle (with Sainz, ed.), but in general we were both rookies, so it's really difficult to measure each other."

Although the challenge with Sainz was particularly exciting, Verstappen believes that since he arrived in Red Bull he had to take an extra step in quality to be able to reach Daniel Ricciardo's level: “Definitely since I arrived at Red Bull I have had to raise my level against Daniel (Ricciardo, ed.). It's been a slow and steady process, it's not like I suddenly had to make a clear leap forward in performance, just take it slow and grow. Especially the results in the race are always positive and I believe this is my strength."

However, the young Dutchman is keen to specify that the relationship with Ricciardo is positive and that there is a good atmosphere within the team which helps the team to give something more: "I think that in general it is already a good team, but when you move to Red Bull everything is better, something you expect from a world champion team. It's not something negative against Toro Rosso, because they do the best they can with the means they have. In the end the atmosphere in the team is very good. I'm having fun. Ricciardo is a great teammate, we have a lot of respect for each other and he is also a very sociable person. So it's good for the team that the two drivers have a good relationship. The team is also pushing and since I arrived I think Daniel and I are pushing each other to the limit. We are pushing the team in the right direction and I think this is very positive for everyone" concluded Verstappen.

Gianluca D'Alessandro