Max matured a lot, says Daniel Ricciardo
London : Daniel Ricciardo says his Red Bull Formula 1 team-mate Max Verstappen has “matured a lot” over the past year and now has more respect for his rivals.
Ricciardo finished 32 points clear of Verstappen in the drivers’ standings in 2017, but the latter suffered more reliability problems, particularly early in the season.
The two clashed in Hungary, after Verstappen locked up and ran into the side of Ricciardo into the right Turn 2 left-hander on the opening lap.
Ricciardo described the move as “amateur”, and Verstappen later spoke to his team-mate one-to-one and apologised for the incident.
“The hot water in Budapest, that was a bit of a test,” Ricciardo said.
“Fortunately he handled it well afterwards and apologised and did what he had to.
“So I feel like there is that respect for each other. Max matured a lot this year, on and off the track.
“On-track, he was more sensible. He was under a lot less scrutiny than he was last year.
“I feel like he also respects the competitors a bit more.”
Ricciardo said he has no problem going wheel-to-wheel against with Verstappen in the future.
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