Ricciardo: “Verstappen is an extra motivation”

The young man's arrival at Red Bull Verstappen, immediately winning on his debut in Spain with the RB12, replacing the demoted Kvyat due to poor performance, did not, at least in words, make him nervous Daniel Ricciardo, until then a sort of reference of the energy team.

“Max is a true F1 driver and this is excellent for me, in fact I would say it is a motivation – he stated to the official website of the Circus – I remember when I joined the team and Vettel was there. I was happy because he was number one and I wanted to compete with someone of that level. Now the same thing is happening. In a certain sense his success at Montmelo was also positive for me. If I were to do better than him from here on out, my performances would be reevaluated...".

Speaking instead of the third constructors' place currently occupied by his team, the 26-year-old from Perth said: “Some innovations tested in the Barcelona tests should make us progress and get closer to the top positions. So far we have done quite well, however it is fair to recognize that some fourth places could have been a top 3. In short, sometimes we have lacked competitiveness, however I am optimistic about the chances of fighting for the podium more often".

Chiara Rainis