Red Bull F1: Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo reunion confirmed

Red Bull

Red Bull confirm Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo reunion

Ricciardo and Verstappen are back together

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Thursday 15 January 2026 21:57

Former F1 team-mates Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen have reunited in a recent Red Bull video.

The Aussie and the Dutchman comprised Red Bull's domineering driver pairing from 2016 to 2018, also renowned for their chemistry off track in the team's social media content (see Verstappen dressed as an elf here).

A decade on from their first season together, Verstappen is a four-time world champion while Ricciardo has left F1 altogether; but the two were recently reunited due to their respective Ford partnerships.

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Ford will accompany Red Bull as their technical partner in F1 from the 2026 season onwards, whereas Ricciardo was named the manufacturer's global ambassador last year and the face of their Raptor brand.

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Watch: Verstappen and Ricciardo reunite

In a recent video for Red Bull, Verstappen went head-to-head with new Racing Bulls star Arvid Lindblad, where they competed in a series of challenges encompassing Ford machinery from the past 100 years.

However, fans of both Ricciardo and Verstappen were delighted when the Aussie star popped up randomly 18 minutes into the video.

For the final challenge, Verstappen selected an Australian V8 supercar while Lindblad opted for a 2025 Mustang GT3 car, during which Ricciardo appeared as a 'special guest' and surprised both Red Bull drivers.

Red Bull shared the reunion on their social media profiles, and posted behind the scenes pictures of Verstappen and Ricciardo, one of which depicted them having a good giggle out on track (energy drinks in hand, naturally) while the other showed their catch up in the garage.

The post was captioned 'MV3 DR3', a nod to Verstappen's new driver number after his title loss to Lando Norris forced him to concede the number 1, choosing to adopt Ricciardo's former number 3 for the 2026 season.

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Daniel Ricciardo