Verstappen more mature, less erratic - Thanks to Ricciardo?

Daniel Ricciardo believes Max Verstappen has become more mature and less erratic, suggesting he may have had an influence on his former Red Bull team-mate.

With Ricciardo having departed to Renault in 2019, Verstappen took much of Red Bull's expectations on his shoulders to deliver his most consistent and impressive campaign in F1 to date.

Verstappen took the first two pole positions of his career and secured three race wins, ending 2019 third in the drivers' championship, despite Red Bull having had to get to grips with Honda in the early stages of the year.

Although Ricciardo and Verstappen's time together at Red Bull featured flashpoints, such as their collision at the 2018 Azerbaijan GP, the Australian says the pair always operated with the utmost respect.

"I think we were good for each other," Ricciardo told 'Beyond The Grid'.

"He certainly grew in that time and I want to say that he probably learned a bit from me, being with the team longer and being older.

"And you can see it. He is less fiery, erratic than he was a couple of years ago and he has matured.

"I think he's found his place now and if I contributed to that then great and if not then that's cool as well.

"We quickly overcame things and I think ultimately that's because we respected each other.

"I know how competitive he is and he knows how competitive I am, so things are going to happen, but I think we respect each other's will to compete and we could kind of move on because of that."

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