Max Verstappen reveals honest thoughts on former Red Bull F1 team-mate Daniel Ricciardo

Max Verstappen has admitted that he misses the time that he and former team-mate Daniel Ricciardo spent together in F1.

Verstappen spent the best part of three years alongside the Australian when he was promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, getting along well with his older team-mate before Ricciardo chose to leave for Renault at the end of the 2018 season.

The pair still notably got along well in the paddock despite being at rival teams for the rest of their careers – although they became something close to team-mates again when Ricciardo came back to drive for a stint with AlphaTauri/VCARB at the end of his career.

He was axed by that team near the end of the 2024 season and officially retired from racing a year later in September 2025, keeping his association with the sport relatively limited since then.

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Verstappen: I miss my times with Danny Ric

Verstappen was asked during an F1 fan Q&A ahead of his 250th start this weekend if he misses being team-mates with the gregarious Aussie, and admitted: "Yeah, well, I miss my times with Daniel, for sure.

"He’s a great guy. Sometimes we still catch up a little bit. Yeah, looking back at it, it was definitely a really fun period of my career also, with him. It’s definitely… When we see each other, we talk about it and have a good laugh."

The Dutchman gave fairly non-committal answers to most of the questions asked, saying he couldn't pick a race which taught him the biggest lesson, or which driver has challenged him most in his career.

He also declined to pick an F1 legend to have dinner with to talk about life and the sport ('I never really had the urge or desire to have dinner with someone that I don’t know'), and when asked when he would say to his younger self? He said 'nothing'.

The good news is, we found out that he likes the name Jaquavius, tomato soup, and beef carpaccio. So it's not a total loss.

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