Verstappen wants to keep Ricciardo as teammate

Jan.6 - Max Verstappen says he would like to keep Daniel Ricciardo as his teammate in F1.

Dutchman Verstappen has signed on with Red Bull through 2020, but his Australian cohort Ricciardo is currently flirting with a move to a rival team for 2019.

Verstappen said he would like things to stay the same.

"We have a lot of respect for each other," he is quoted by Speed Week, "and frankly, in my racing career so far, I've never had that much to do with a teammate.

"Even if we give anything to fighting hard with one another on the track, Daniel is a great guy and we have a lot of fun next to the track," Verstappen added.

"So I hope that we will be teammates for a very long time."

The 20-year-old thinks his relationship with Ricciardo would even survive an intense world championship fight.

"I think so," Verstappen said, "because we respect each other. Sure, when you fight for the title it gets more intense, but in the end you come back to that mutual respect.

"You have to accept when someone is faster and I think we can do that. If one of us has a good race, the other one says that he really deserves it -- and I think that's very important."

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