SEPANG, Malaysia -- Daniel Ricciardo says being teammates with Max Verstappen at Red Bull has forced him to reach a new level to stay on top.
Verstappen joined the team at the Spanish Grand Prix, replacing Daniil Kvyat who was demoted to Toro Rosso. The Dutch teenager won on his debut with Red Bull and including that result has scored 116 points to Ricciardo's 143 over the same period since then.
"[Verstappen's arrival] was probably another step up in my personal career or in my driving," Ricciardo said. "I always felt obviously that I was at the limit and I think up until that point when Max arrived that was what probably sparked the driver change that I was performing quite well compared to Daniil, from testing through till Russia, then Max came on board.
"I thought I was already driving at my limit, I guess there was something a little bit more and I feel that we've both given each other that, I feel Max has lifted his game even more and I have so it's cool to know that we've got a bit more in the tank, I think we've both lifted without knowing we had it, we've found a bit more."
Ricciardo said he had been interested to see whether Verstappen lived up to the hype around him when he arrived at Red Bull.
"Sure, if he came into the team and kicked my ass 10 races in a row, then my career would go from up here to down here. Sure there's always some curiosity [when a new teammate joins], I wouldn't say nerves but I would say pressure and curiosity probably, for me as well it's exciting. I knew how hyped Max was and I hadn't seen his data so I didn't know what he was bringing to the table, but I knew that he was not afraid to give it a go basically, and I saw already from first practice in Barcelona that he was on the limit of the car.
"I was like OK this is going to be exciting. So another one was when I had Seb I knew if I could get the best of Seb, a four-time champ, it's only going to do well for my career. If I can go well against Max, the new kid on the block, then again if I get on top of them it's only going to help me out. Not afraid, just excited."