Ricciardo hails Verstappen as 'one of the best ever' after Red Bull's Ford-powered breakthrough win

Daniel Ricciardo has declared Max Verstappen will “go down as one of the best ever” and admitted he cannot fully grasp what Red Bull achieved by winning a grand prix in the very first season running its own Ford-backed power unit. The Australian, now a Ford Racing ambassador, spoke on the Cars and Culture with Jason Stein podcast.

Ricciardo raced alongside Verstappen at Red Bull from 2016 to the end of 2018, and the pair’s first shared memory at a race track is a fitting one: Ricciardo won the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang with Verstappen second, a Red Bull 1-2. Ten years later, the same circuit hosted the relocated Bahrain Grand Prix in October — the race that delivered Red Bull Powertrains and Ford Racing their maiden victory together.

“I look back on my time as team-mates with Max very fondly; it was a cool time,” Ricciardo said. “There were moments of intense rivalry and competition and all of it, but it made us push ourselves to another level. I loved that. Of course, he has gone on and done so much, and he’s going to go down as one of the best ever, no doubt about it. He’s an insane talent.”

Ricciardo said he sent congratulatory messages to Verstappen and several others still inside the Milton Keynes outfit after the Sepang result. “I can’t even comprehend everything that has gone into it,” he said. “And for them to go and win in their first season together, there is no better guy to do it than Max.”

Verstappen has since added victories in Singapore and Mexico, lifting Red Bull above Ferrari in the 2025 constructors’ standings on race wins — three to the Scuderia’s two. He recovered from 21st on the grid to finish second at the São Paulo Grand Prix, leaving him second in the drivers’ championship heading into the final stretch of the season.

Ricciardo, who departed Formula 1 at the end of 2024 and launched a collaboration between his Enchante lifestyle brand and Ford Racing earlier this year, said the bond with his former team remains strong. “The whole thing has been awesome,” he said. “It was received well; there are a lot of good people in that team.”