Daniel Ricciardo believes "ridiculous" Max Verstappen is "keeping this championship even more exciting" as he tries to hunt down the McLaren drivers.
Following the United States GP weekend in which he scored a maximum 33 points, Verstappen ate into the points lead of Oscar Piastri, whittling away 23 points to sit 40 behind going into the final five races.
Piastri is experiencing a wobble as he seeks a maiden F1 title, and is now 12 points clear of team-mate Lando Norris in the second McLaren, as Verstappen brought himself back into contention with a third win in five races.
He has taken 64 points out of Piastri in the four races since the summer break, and has good momentum as he tries to become only the second driver, after Michael Schumacher, to win five consecutive drivers' titles.
Former F1 racer Ricciardo was in Austin through his clothing brand, and passed on his thoughts during the event.
"Meanwhile, Max is contacting the restaurant about his steak cooked medium rare for later tonight," Ricciardo joked to fans during a special watch-along on WhatsApp.
"Haha, yeah, Max is ridiculous. Kid’s so good. Yes, I’m stating the obvious, I know.
"I mean, Max is really keeping this championship even more exciting than it already was with Oscar and Lando."
Elsewhere, Ricciardo also backed Yuki Tsunoda's performances, after the under-fire Japanese driver secured twin P7 finishes in the two races, with Ricciardo observing that for "two days in a row, he's coming through nicely."
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