Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo 2016 Review

Before the final race in Abu Dhabi, the Red Bull Racing duo review the season.

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Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen interview each other in this in-depth, end of season 2016 review.

Insights include Max’s thoughts about the reaction to him joining Red Bull Racing, opinions about his driving and his feelings during the last few laps of the Brazilian GP. Daniel reveals where he thought he would finish at the start of the season, as well as reflecting on the Monaco GP and his win in Malaysia.

The edit also features some light-hearted chat between the pair about fame and good hair days.

After such an impressive rookie season in Formula 1 last year, the sky appeared to be the limit for Max Verstappen – but few seriously thought he would go stratospheric as quickly as he did in 2016.

2016 review Max: the Dutchman was always bound to make the move up to Red Bull’s senior F1 operation one day but was given an early promotion as Daniil Kvyat’s meltdown in Sochi proved to be the excuse the team needed to make the switch.

Verstappen then delivered one of the shocks of the season by winning his very first race with Red Bull, picking up the pieces when Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed into each other and his team put Daniel Ricciardo on a dud strategy. The level of maturity and confidence he showed in the closing stages to fend off Kimi Raikkonen as he did was far beyond his 18 years.

The year was filled with similarly excellent displays from Verstappen, most notably in Brazil when he went on a late rampage with a fresh set of wet tires, taking 11 places in the space of 15 laps with some daring moves. It’s a drive that is already being talked about in the same breath as Michael Schumacher in Spain in 1996 or Ayrton Senna’s wet-wonders in the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix.

However, there is still room for improvement for Verstappen. His qualifying form still needs work, having lost convincingly to Ricciardo in that head-to-head, and he still has a few rookie errors in races to iron out (Monaco and Spa come to mind). That said, the excitement Verstappen brings to the grid cannot be understated. Let’s see what more he can do through 2017.