Ricciardo on Verstappen and Hamilton: "Magnificent story"

Daniel Ricciardo is incredibly curious about the denouement of the 2021 season. He likes to see how his former teammate Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton battle for the World Championship title. Ricciardo speaks of a 'battle royale.'

"Sometimes I try to follow the race from the cockpit on the big screens, but it wasn't easy here," Ricciardo is quoted by the NOS. McLaren driver in his car didn't have time to look at the screens (for the public) at the side of the tarmac from time to time. "But through all the interruptions and incidents, I was able to follow pretty closely how things were going between Lewis and Max."

The 31-year-old driver from Perth likes the fact that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will decide who the world title goes to. "That they go there with the same number of points is a gift to the sport. I've been hoping for that for years, although of course I'd prefer to fight it out myself. We're going to have a real final. The veteran who can break all records versus the youngest Grand Prix winner ever. That's a magnificent story. A dream scenario. I call it a "battle royale. The pressure couldn't be higher. May the best man win."

Ricciardo takes P5

Ricciardo himself took a handsome fifth place at the Jeddah circuit on Sunday. In the review for his employer, he commented, "That felt like the longest race ever. The start of the race was so late (20:30 local time, ed.), so it already felt like a long day, and then with all those restarts it felt even longer. The starts were good, I always made up positions until the last one where I stayed fourth."

Ahead of him he saw Esteban Ocon and behind him Valtteri Bottas. "I was surprised how long I held him off, but I think once he let his tyres reset, it was quite hard to keep him behind. I defended him one lap, re-passed him and then he got me. I struggled a bit at the end with the tyres, so I'm happy to have held on to a top five," he concludes.