Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that it is a “curiosity” of his to wonder how his Formula 1 career may have transpired if he had stayed at Red Bull, despite acknowledging how tough being teammates with Max Verstappen would have been.
The Australian is perhaps one of F1’s greatest ‘what ifs?’ given the extreme level of talent he had that went unfulfilled.
After outscoring Sebastian Vettel in his first year with the Milton Keynes-based squad, Ricciardo was tipped as a future F1 champion, but his relationship with the team soured.
With the emergence of Max Verstappen, Ricciardo opted to leave Red Bull and join Renault for the 2019 season, prompting then-Team Principal Christian Horner to claim he was “running from a fight” with the youngster from Holland.
After his departure from Red Bull, Ricciardo managed just one more Grand Prix win – with McLaren at Monza in 2021 – before returning to its fold via Racing Bulls.
But the old Ricciardo magic was never quite the same, and his career ended in Singapore in 2024, making way for Liam Lawson, bringing a promising chapter to a close.
Speaking to The Athletic, Ricciardo made the confession that he has wondered what may have transpired, but concluded that it was possible that Verstappen may have put him in the shade.
“The most obvious ‘what if?’ or whatever, especially for people on the outside, is: ‘What if you stayed at Red Bull after 2018?’ he said.
“That’s one where I don’t know. I don’t know if that was the right decision.
“Certainly, there was a bit of emotion in that, but there were reasons I didn’t think it was going to work.
“There’s also a scenario where Max just obliterated me as the years went on and maybe my career ended even quicker. I don’t know.
“At the time, I was competitive with Max and we were pushing each other really well.
“It’s just hard. 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.”
Daniel Ricciardo pinpoints ‘team dynamic’ rather than fear for Red Bull exit
Ricciardo denied that the common conclusion that he was backing out of a direct intra-team competition with Verstappen was correct, stating he only feared the “team dynamic” rather than the teammate situation itself.
“At the time, some of the narrative was all like: ‘Am I kind of running from the fight?’ he continued.
“I don’t think I was running from the fight. I was just concerned with how things were going to go moving forward.
“I was more concerned about the team dynamic more than running from a fight.
“But am I denying that Max would have been extremely hard to beat? Absolutely not. But I’m curious how that would have turned out.
“I don’t know if I’d go as far as saying [it’s] a regret, but it remains a curiosity.”
Ricciardo was, at one stage, looking like the natural successor to Vettel, but Verstappen’s immediate impact upon arriving at Red Bull was huge. The collision between the two in Baku no doubt helped sow the seeds of contention.
It is truly a shame that someone so talented and so likeable was unable to maximise their potential, but Ricciardo can be safe in the knowledge that whilst never an F1 champion, he will always be one of the most popular drivers of the last decade.
READ MORE – Christian Horner backed to take Audi F1 Team Principal job
Discussion about this post