Daniel Ricciardo says Max Verstappen’s natural aggression “worked out pretty well for him” when they were team mates at Red Bull.

Reflecting on his career in an interview for The Howie Games , Ricciardo described how Verstappen’s uncompromising approach contrasted with his style.

“I think where credit to Max is, and I think a lot of it was his age at the time, that had its kind of downsides with a little bit of immaturity, but it had his upsides with he really just didn’t care about anything, about annoying people or about the risks. It was just like ‘I’m just going to go out there and drive this thing as hard as I can’.

“He probably didn’t understand the responsibility, so he kind of raced with a lot of free will and that that worked out pretty well for him a handful of times.”

Verstappen won his the first race he started with the team when he joined Ricciardo at Red Bull in 2016. The pair spent three seasons alongside each other before Ricciardo left the team to join Renault.

“When he joined the team really from from day one, he just got out of the pits and really ragged the car and wasn’t really caring about protecting the equipment or anything. It was just 100 or nothing.

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“That was cool because a lot of the time I would build up to it. And sometimes I was probably a bit too nice as well on the car and on things like that. But I think we certainly pushed each other a bit harder through that year. So that was a good thing.”

Ricciardo out-scored Verstappen during their first two seasons together but fell behind in the championship in their final year as team mates.

Now waiting to start his second season with Renault, Ricciardo admitted the long delay to the start of the season feels “painful”.

“I’ve always been someone that loves my job and shows love for my job. But yes, surely not having it and the thought of not having it, even as I sit here the thought of not having it for maybe four or five more months, it’s a bit painful. So it certainly can reiterate some some strong feelings for the sport, which is good to feel, and sometimes you need a reminder.

“I’m keeping in touch with the team as much as I can, with Renault. We’ve got drivers’ association which all us drivers are part of and we will send through emails every so often through that if we’re hearing anything.

“But right now F1’s cancelled or postponed up until the middle of June. I’d love to say we’ll go racing middle of June but it’s probably going to get pushed back again.”

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2020 F1 season