‘He’s proven himself as a great driver’ – Verstappen and Tsunoda share their support for Ricciardo amid speculation over his future

Former team mate Max Verstappen and current team mate Yuki Tsunoda have both talked up Daniel Ricciardo’s track record and approach in F1 as rumours continue to swirl over the Australian’s future.

Arriving in Marina Bay for this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, the 35-year-old faced further questions about keeping his place on the grid for another season – and whether he’s even at risk of being replaced before the 2024 campaign is out.

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It comes as RB weigh up whether to retain Ricciardo alongside incumbent Tsunoda or promote test and reserve driver Liam Lawson, who impressed as a stand-in for the injured Ricciardo at five Grands Prix last year.

During Thursday’s media rounds, Ricciardo’s past and present colleagues were asked for their thoughts on the eight-time Grand Prix winner, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen offering plenty of positive words.

“Daniel’s a great guy, I think he has proven himself as a great F1 driver,” said Verstappen, who spent three seasons alongside Ricciardo at Red Bull. “He’s a friend of mine and I think, in general, always being in this kind of position is never nice.

“On the other hand, I don’t think he has to feel sorry for himself. Sometimes things maybe don’t work out the way you want them in certain stages of your career, but you still have achieved a lot – more than anyone could ever dream of in their lives.

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“Even if this is the last race or whatever, he can still look back at something amazing, that not many people can achieve, and do something else in life. There are many other race series, or not, maybe just chill back at the farm and have a lot of fun!

“For me, it doesn’t really matter or not if you deserve or… A lot of people deserve to be here, some don’t deserve to be here. That’s life, also in all kinds of sport – it’s how it goes.”

Tsunoda, who was joined by Ricciardo at RB – then called AlphaTauri – midway through the 2023 season, admitted there is plenty he has learned, and is still learning, from his more experienced team mate’s way of going racing.

“I definitely respect him a lot,” said the Japanese driver. “The things he has are things I don’t have, especially like emotional control and how he’s able to be consistent to the team.

“I’m probably more emotional if I have a bad session or whatever, for example the quality of feedback might be a little bit worse than usual.

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“He’s very consistent and I think he understood more about the car, he understood more about probably the situations. I learned a lot of things from him and I’m still learning about that.”

Asked if he has any input in the line-up decision, Tsunoda added: “Of course not. I cannot say anything. I don’t know. To be honest, it’s just speculation – I don’t know anything about it. It’s up to them [team bosses], it’s not up to me at all.”

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