Daniel Ricciardo reflected on his Formula 1 career and admitted that if he had remained as Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, he could have been ‘annihilated’ by the Dutchman.
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The Australian retired from the tracks after being dismissed from Racing Bulls at the 2024 Singapore GP for the entry of Liam Lawson. Now, he has taken on the role of Ford Racing ambassador, but with no desire to return to F1.
In the category, his decline began after leaving Red Bull, despite his early years with Renault being competitive. But at McLaren, for example, he stayed for only two years and prematurely ended the partnership with the team.
But what would have happened if he had stayed at Red Bull? Ricciardo answered The Athletic. “That’s a question where I don’t know. I don’t know if it was the right decision. Certainly, there was a bit of emotion involved, but there were reasons why I didn’t think it would work out. There is also a scenario where Max would have simply annihilated me as the years went by and maybe my career would have ended even faster,” he said.
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“I don’t know. At the time, I was competitive with Max and we pushed each other very well. It’s hard to say. I’m sure maybe I would have still won more races than I ended up winning. But I can’t deny that Max is Max,” he followed.
“At the time, part of the narrative was like: ‘Am I running away from the fight?’ I don’t think I was running away from the fight. I was just concerned about how things would unfold from then on. I was more concerned about the team dynamic than running away from a fight,” he continued.
“Am I denying that Max would have been extremely difficult to defeat? Absolutely not. But I’m curious to know what it would have been like. I don’t know if I would say I regret it, but it remains a curiosity,” he concluded.
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