Verstappen heaps heavy praise on Ricciardo

Max Verstappen has lauded Daniel Ricciardo, selecting the Australian the as strongest team-mate he has been paired with at Red Bull.

The four-time F1 drivers' champion will be joined by Liam Lawson at the Milton Keynes squad next season, his fifth team-mate since replacing Daniil Kyvat early in the 2016 F1 season.

When discussing the drivers who have partnered him at the six-time constructors' champions, the Dutchman was quick to shine a light on Ricciardo, highlighting how much he was able to learn from the eight-time grand prix winner.

The affable 35-year-old moved onto Renault for 2019, before joining McLaren two years later.

However, despite bright spells at the former, he was seldom able to replicate his best form - save his fortuitous Italian Grand Prix victory in 2021 - once he teamed up with Lando Norris at the latter, something that saw him dropped for Oscar Piastri.

Although he made a brief comeback for AlphaTauri and RB (now Racing Bulls), his F1 career ultimately fizzled out, unable to reproduce the levels of performance that would have afforded him a highly-sought-after Red Bull return.

Nonetheless, when asked who his strongest team-mate had been over his time in Milton Keynes, Verstappen singled out the Australian.

"Definitely Daniel Ricciardo," the 27-year-old told Blick. "I was able to learn the most from him.

"I have absorbed a lot and incorporated it into my experience."

Perez poor form 'a shame'

As for his most recent team-mate, Sergio Perez, Verstappen was keen to give him his flowers too, despite the disappointing end to his Red Bull tenure.

Like Ricciardo, who was dismissed by RB after the Singapore Grand Prix, the Mexican driver has also been replaced by Lawson.

The situation for the six-time grand prix winner at Red Bull had become untenable, due to the significant performance gap between him and Verstappen.

When the over 280 point deficit from 2024 was put to the 27-year-old, he reflected on their time together and zeroed in on Perez's loyalty, something he evidently valued greatly.

"That's a shame, because we were a good team for four years - and Sergio was always loyal," Verstappen added. "That's a quality I really appreciate."