Red Bull star driver Max Verstappen has expressed his openness for Daniel Ricciardo to replace current teammate Sergio Perez. Daniel Ricciardo has recently returned to Formula One, with Red Bull sister team Alpha Taurus replacing Nick de Vries in his debut.
Max And Ricciardo were teammates back in 2016 on the Red Bull team. Due to being overshadowed by then-newcomer Max, Ricciardo decided to leave the team for Renault in 2019 before moving on to McLaren for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Ricciardo found himself without a seat on the grid due to his unsuccessful stint with McLaren, leaving him without a win at Monza.
Verstappen excited for potential Ricciardo reunion at RedBull
With Daniel Ricciardo claiming to be aiming for the second seat at Red Bull in the future, Red Bull’s current driver Max Verstappen was asked how he felt about Ricardo replacing current teammate Sergio Perez in the future. To this, the two-time world champion said:
“Yeah… I never really wanted him to leave [in relation to rumors about Ricciardo’s departure from Red Bull due to his relationship with Verstappen]. No, I mean…all those things. We all know that we get on very well, and if Daniel does well where he is now [at AlphaTauri], then of course he will have the opportunity to come back, won’t he? So everything is open, to be honest.”
Daniel Ricciardo embraces “lone wolf” fitness approach
Following the sudden change in drivers at the Alpha Tauri team, Ricciardo found himself without his former physiotherapist. When Ricciardo was with McLaren before retiring, Michael Italiano was his performance coach and had been with him since his Renault days. Unfortunately, due to Ricciardo’s exit in 2022, Michael has started working with Dani’s new teammate Yuki, leaving him without a trainer.
On this topic, Daniel Ricciardo, in a recent interview, had this to say:
“So I’m lone wolf,”
“I’ve got Pyry (Salmela) helping me out…Pyry is going to just help out on race weekends just to kind of make the flow of the weekend go a little smoother.”
” I wanted to get back into the sport because it’s truly coming from me and what my heart desires.”
“So I’ve been doing it myself this year and I’ve got the answers I wanted.”
