Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo are on the same team but have hugely different roles currently. On one hand, Max is Red Bull’s go-to driver and triple champion, whereas Daniel is merely a reserve driver who is working with their sister team, Scuderia AlphaTauri, ever since his highly controversial departure from Red Bull in 2018.
There was a time when both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo used to race side by side to prove themselves better, and their relationship went from best buddies to bitter rivals. However, even in the difficult times, Max once did something for the Honey Badger that was very thoughtful of him.
Max Verstappen’s thoughtful present to Ricciardo
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo started off really well as teammates and the fledgling rookie was soon getting up to speed with Danny. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner and with the Red Bulls getting competitive again, they started to prefer Max over Daniel, which caused many clashes. By the 2018 season, Daniel and Max’s relationship was utterly broken, prompting Daniel Ricciardo to leave for Renault in 2019.
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo’s bromance suffered a huge setback and people believed that they would turn into permanent rivals now that they were officially racing against each other. In spite of obvious expectations, they never collided or fought wheel-to-wheel for long in 2019 and the season ended fairly peacefully. Every year, Formula 1 does the secret Santa event in the wake of Christmas.
During the winter break, drivers are recovering from their seasons and they are in a mood of joy and friendship, in spite of their rivalry all year. In Formula 1 Secret Santa, drivers are assigned in pairs, and each driver has to gift the other one a surprise gift for Christmas. For the 2019 Christmas, Daniel received a Karaoke set from someone and he immediately guessed it was Max Verstappen. It turned out to be true and Max’s gift stood as a testament to their friendship in Red Bull.
What happened between Max and Daniel?
Red Bull had suffered a huge setback after winning their first 4 championships with Vettel and they had a new rookie in shape of Daniel Ricciardo. Daniel outperformed Vettel entirely in the 2014 season and he was able to create a good reputation in the sport.
Later on, Max Verstappen, the super rookie who skipped Formula 2 joined Red Bull and talented as he was, Max started competing with Ricciardo almost immediately. The Bulls were suffering badly due to the Honda engines in turbo-hybris era and Red Bull’s preferential treatment of Max upset the Honey Badger. Max Verstappen used to outqualify Daniel but in the race, the Honey Badger ultimately came out on top with his race craft.
The situation escalated with the fact that Max and Daniel kept clashing amongst each other, causing the team to make a clear choice between either of the two. Red Bull chose the rising star, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo left for Renault to have a better shot at his dreams.
Daniel is in a bid to get back to his original team and he is trying to make amends at AlphaTauri, but his ambitions are a threat to Perez who has been struggling to cope with the extremely fast Max Verstappen.
Do you think Red Bull will be tangled in a complex game of choices? Or will a new face enter into play after their shenanigans with Lando Norris? Make sure to tell us your views on this in the comments.
