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F1 News: Max Verstappen Hints At Teaming Up With Daniel Ricciardo - "I Never Wanted Him To Leave"

Max Verstappen has spoken about the possibility of having Daniel Riccardo as a teammate again.

Lydia Mee

F1 News: Max Verstappen Hints At Teaming Up With Daniel Ricciardo - "I Never Wanted Him To Leave"
F1 News: Max Verstappen Hints At Teaming Up With Daniel Ricciardo - "I Never Wanted Him To Leave" /

Two-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has confirmed that he would be happy to have Daniel Ricciardo as a teammate again.

Speaking ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend during the drivers' press conference, the Dutch driver was asked if he would be open to racing alongside the eight-time grand prix winner again. He responded:

"I would be ready to team up again with Ricciardo. I never wanted him to leave."

It was confirmed last week that Red Bull Racing had dropped AlphaTauri rookie Nyck de Vries after just ten races. Daniel Ricciardo was quickly confirmed as his replacement with immediate effect. 

The move from the Austrian team has spurred on more rumours over the future of Max Verstappen's current teammate Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver has struggled to keep up with Verstappen in the dominant RB19 so far this season with there now being a 99 point gap between the two drivers in the standings.  

Perez has failed to get through to Q3 of qualifying during the last five race weekends, further fuelling rumours of an exit from the team. Many are of the opinion that Red Bull brought Ricciardo back to the AlphaTauri seat partly because he has enough experience to jump into the AT04 mid-season, which would be an unfair task to put on a rookie, but also to gear him up to replace Perez in 2024. 

Ricciardo lost his seat with McLaren last year and was not able to secure another suitable full-time seat for 2023. Although, it now looks like signing as Red Bull's third driver has paid off. The Australian driver previously joined the Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) team in 2012-2013 before moving up to Red Bull in 2014 where he stayed until 2018 and drove alongside Verstappen. 

Nothing has been confirmed yet regarding Perez's seat and both Red Bull team chief Christian Horner and motorsport advisor Helmut Marko are adamant that Perez's seat is not in threat. However, Verstappen's comments show he would not rule out the idea. 

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Lydia Mee
LYDIA MEE

Lydia is the lead editor of F1 editorial. After following the sport for several years, she was finally able to attend the British Grand Prix in person in 2017. Since then, she's been addicted to not only the racing, but the atmosphere the fans bring to each event. She's a strong advocate for women in motorsport and a more diverse industry. 

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