Ricciardo calls Verstappen an all-time Formula 1 great
NXTbets Pro | Published On: November 11, 2026
Verstappen praise
Daniel Ricciardo put Max Verstappen in rare company when he called his former Red Bull teammate one of Formula 1’s all-time greats on the Cars and Culture with Jason Stein podcast. Ricciardo said Verstappen will go down as “one of the best ever,” and he grounded that view in the three seasons they spent as Red Bull teammates from 2016 to 2018. He also described Verstappen as “an insane talent,” a judgment that came from seeing him every day inside one of the sport’s top teams rather than from watching from afar. Ricciardo said their rivalry and competition pushed both drivers to another level, which gives the praise extra weight. He did not frame those years as a detached memory. He said he looks back on that time fondly and said he was happy for Verstappen and Red Bull. That mix of admiration and familiarity runs through his comments. Ricciardo spoke as someone who had a close view of Verstappen’s pace, his drive and the standard the Dutch driver set during their shared run at Red Bull. The result is a public endorsement that carries real authority because it came from a teammate who fought the same battles and felt the same pressure.
Baku rivalry
Ricciardo’s praise also comes with the memory of a rivalry that could turn sharp. He and Verstappen spent three seasons together at Red Bull, and their partnership included a collision in Baku in 2018. That moment is part of the history between them, but it did not define the way Ricciardo described the relationship now. He stressed the competition and the way both drivers rose because of it. That is the key theme in his remarks. The battle inside the team did not push him to distance himself from Verstappen in hindsight. It pushed him to respect what he saw. Ricciardo’s comments suggest that the rivalry worked as a measuring stick. It showed him how much Verstappen could extract in a fight and how much both drivers had to demand from themselves to stay at that level. He did not present the 2018 collision as the end of the story. He placed it inside a larger picture that included shared seasons, constant pressure and the kind of competition that can sharpen two drivers at once. Ricciardo’s view is that the tension and the talent sat side by side. That is why his words carry more than nostalgia. They come from direct experience with a teammate who kept raising the bar while the pair tested each other on track.
Red Bull results
Ricciardo also pointed to Red Bull’s wider progress when he praised Red Bull Powertrains in its first season. He said he could not comprehend how Red Bull produced a race-winning power unit so quickly, a comment that underlined how fast the project has moved. He tied that success to Verstappen’s 2026 season, which brought three wins, including victories in Sepang, Singapore and Mexico. Verstappen’s year also included a second-place finish in Brazil after starting 21st, a result that left him second in the Drivers’ Championship. Ricciardo said he sent congratulatory messages to Verstappen and several team members after the season’s results, which extends his praise beyond the driver and toward the operation around him. The reaction fits the tone of the interview. Ricciardo was not only talking about an old teammate. He was recognizing a team and a program that have kept delivering at a high level. His comments connect the past and the present in a direct way. The teammate he once raced beside is now the driver he places among Formula 1’s all-time greats, and the team he once shared with him is the one he credited for turning speed and progress into results.
