Daniel Ricciardo claims he was aware of certain things during his time at Red Bull which he didn't pay too much attention to in order to avoid a negative mindset. Ricciardo has hinted at not being in favour at Red Bull when he was Max Verstappen's teammate and has given another indication that he was not in an ideal environment at the team. "I was aware of certain things, but I didn't pay much attention to them because I've never been the person with a negative mindset." Ricciardo told Motorsport.com. "You can always point to someone who gives you negative energy or you can think about everything too much and make it too difficult. I just had to focus on driving, that's all." At the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix, Verstappen had a big opportunity to become the youngest ever pole sitter in Formula 1. Verstappen dominated the weekend up until Q3 when Ricciardo snatched pole position away. The Dutchman did win the race as Ricciardo suffered an engine failure. "I knew Max would be the youngest polesitter ever if he caught the pole that weekend," said Ricciardo. "That would be a record for him, a record for Red Bull. Of course that's good good for the brand, for the team, for the advertising and that generates revenue. "I understand that and that's why I decided not to get off my record. I know this is a sport, but at the same time it's also a hard business. I was just really happy with myself. "A year earlier in Mexico, Max was almost a second faster in qualifying. It was a really crazy weekend. And in 2018, he was the fastest every session, every session. Until Q3, then I was at the top out of nowhere. "So I was proud of that, I still could. And Max, of course, drove very, very well. It confirmed the confidence I had in myself. But the next day was tough. From one day to the next from mad joy to fierce disappointment. It's hard to deal with that. I'm passionate, I'm emotional sometimes. It's hard to manage that disappointment."
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