During Thursday’s media interviews, reigning world champion Max Verstappen was quick to share his admiration for Ricciardo, who he spent three seasons with at Red Bull Racing. Reflecting on their time as teammates and Ricciardo’s career, Verstappen highlighted the achievements of the eight-time Grand Prix winner.

Ricciardo had his sights set on Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull but he simply has not been up to scratch at RB

After losing his McLaren seat at the end of 2022, eight-time grand prix winner Ricciardo returned to F1 midway through 2023 with Red Bull’s sister team, AlphaTauri, now known as RB. He quickly set his sights on returning to the senior Red Bull team, where he raced between 2014 and 2018.