Daniel Ricciardo believes he’s a better driver than Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

Daniel Ricciardo believes he is a better driver than both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, and that he wouldn’t be racing F1 if he believed otherwise.

In an interview with RN365, the Australian said:

“Until the day I stop, I’ll always believe I’m the best.”

“I think the day I stop will be the day that I no longer believe I’m the best driver.”

“Is Max the second best? Probably!”

Daniel Ricciardo partnered with Max Verstappen at Red Bull for two-and-a-half seasons between 2016 and 2018. He has since been the only teammate to have beaten the Dutchman on pure pace at the Milton Keynes-based team.

Before Verstappen’s arrival, Ricciardo was often hailed as the future of Red Bull, especially following four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel's move to Ferrari.

During the 2014 season, when Mercedes dominated the field, Daniel Ricciardo was the only non-Mercedes driver to notch up a victory. While his veteran teammate Sebastian Vettel struggled for pace, Ricciardo won three races, beating Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in faster cars, often making the most out of adverse weather conditions.

Throughout his career, Daniel Ricciardo has been known for his ability to “steal” races, and his overtakes under braking, earning himself the moniker “the last of the late brakers”.

Daniel Ricciardo feels Red Bull always gave him fair treatment compared to Max Verstappen

After nearly ten years with the Red Bull family, Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull Racing at the end of 2018 to race for Renault the following season.

One of the main reasons for his departure was said to be the unfair treatment he received from the Red Bull management during the 2018 season when he and Verstappen were involved in a controversial crash in Azerbaijan.

Speaking of the incident, Ricciardo feels that Red Bull never treated him unfairly, but he felt they had an unfair “point of view”.

“From a car point of view, a setup point of view, I never questioned equal equipment. But sometimes, the point of view, I didn’t feel I was equal in some situations - Baku being the biggest one.”

“That’s where I felt like a little bit unsteady. Insecure, I guess. I know with (Mark) Webber and (Sebastian) Vettel sometimes there was a front wing, this and that, who gets this part. I honestly never had that.”

Famously, Daniel Ricciardo has got along well with all his teammates in F1, including Max Verstappen. While their battles on the track were oftentimes heated and fierce, they were always friendly off track.

Speaking about his relationship with Verstappen at Red Bull, Ricciardo said:

“It was fun. There were definitely some on-track collisions, but for how fierce we were, I think we handled it pretty well.”

“The debriefs and that were never hostile. I think we exchanged information pretty well. I think [our Race Engineers] were good, there weren’t any kind of secrets and I think they were pretty open with each other. So actually, the environment was pretty good.”

“As a person, I really like Max. For sure, it’s been probably easier to get on with each other post-teammates, because we don’t have that head-to-head, as you’d call it.”

“But I think also he’s matured, you know, so I like the way he goes about his business as well. We are quite different, but I think he’s very true to his word, not much bullshit that goes on. I definitely like him and respect him for that.”

Furthermore, Daniel Ricciardo says that he is happy for Max Verstappen on winning his first F1 title and feels the Dutchman would have won “sooner or later”.