Max Verstappen makes stunning claim about Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull exit as Aussie finishes behind his new teammate on return to F1 – but reveals why he’s not worried about lack of pace

Daniel Ricciardo’s former Red Bull co-driver Max Verstappen has shocked F1 fans with a claim about the Aussie appearing to conflict with the turbulent relationship they had while with the team.

Ricciardo left Red Bull for Renault in 2018, citing tension between the pair – and the team’s handling of their infamous crash in Baku that year – as some of the reasons he quit.

At one point, the Aussie even said he and the Dutchman “wanted to end each other’s careers” when they shared the same pit garage.

But Verstappen seemed to have forgotten all that when he told reporters at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend: “I never really wanted him to leave.”

“It’s great to have Daniel back on the grid and in the family,” he continued.

“We know we get along really well and if Daniel does well where he is now, then of course you have the opportunity to move up again. [to Red Bull]right?

World champion Verstappen: ‘It’s great to have Daniel back on the grid and in the family.’

“It’s all open, to be honest.

“I’ve already talked to Daniel quite a bit last week. I saw that he was very excited even after driving our car [in a tyre test at Silverstone].’

Ricciardo has returned to the grid with AlphaTauri after serving as Red Bull’s reserve driver for the first 11 races of the season and says he has had a seamless transition into the driver’s seat.

“There’s a lot of outside attention, of course, but once I put the helmet on and got into the car, it felt like I’d never really left, so that was nice,” said Ricciardo after first practice at Hungaroring circuit on Friday.

The 34-year-old finished almost half a second behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, but seemed unaffected by his relative lack of speed.

“I think features are probably not that relevant right now,” he said.

“I think it was more fair for me today to feel where I am with the car. It all felt quite familiar.’

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen (pictured together) were a formidable combination for Red Bull Racing – but they weren’t exactly best friends

Tsunoda surprised fans and pundits by setting the fourth fastest time on the track.

Ricciardo was seven-tenths off the pace in 14th with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc leading in Friday’s second free practice – but that famous smile was back when he said his position wasn’t “too relevant” after getting a “good feeling” in the new car.

“Right now I’m quite optimistic,” said Ricciardo.

“Looks like Yuki was having a pretty good day too. So yeah, I think if we put all these things together, maybe we can do well tomorrow… I feel good in the car today.

“There are things I need to work on that I’m not too worried about. And then some things about the car that we can just keep improving.’