Max Verstappen has praised Daniel Ricciardo as the Australian prepares to learn whether he will remain in Formula 1 for next season.
Red Bull is expected to make a decision on whether Ricciardo, 35, will be retained by its sister team RB for next season and continue to partner Yuki Tsunoda.
Liam Lawson is also in contention for the seat after he impressed filling in for Ricciardo last year when he was ruled out with a broken wrist.
Ricciardo is understood to have the full support of Red Bull boss Christian Horner. However, the Australian has been unable to repay that faith with performances on track.
When asked about the predicament Ricciardo now faces, Verstappen gave a cryptic response that sounded vaguely like a goodbye speech for the eight-time GP winner.
Speaking on Thursday in Singapore about the driver he spent three years racing alongside at Red Bull in 2016-18, he said: «Daniel is a great guy, I think he has proven himself as a great Formula 1 driver.
«He’s a friend of mine. And being in this kind of position is never nice.
«But on the other end, I don’t think he has to feel sorry for himself.
Daniel Ricciardo, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
«Sometimes things maybe don’t work out the way you want them in certain stages of your career, but you still have achieved a lot more than anyone could ever dream of in their lives.
«So even if this is, let’s say, the last race or whatever, you can still look back at something amazing that not many people can achieve and do something else.
«I mean, why not? [There are] many more race series or not. Maybe just chill back at the farm, have a lot of fun.
«He’s a great guy. So for me, it doesn’t really matter or not if you deserve to be here. A lot of people deserve to be here.
«Some don’t deserve to be here, that’s life in all kinds of sports. It’s how it goes.»
Meanwhile Ricciardo has said he has been unable to show his true potential in races since he returned to F1 with RB after being let go after a disappointing run at McLaren.
He said: «I don’t wish to be in the middle, for sure. But obviously, I look back at my year and yes, if you asked me in January, ‘how do you think a year is going to go?’ I would have said, ‘I expect it to have gone better than this’.
«But it’s not through, lack of anything really, I really felt like I put everything into it this year.
Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
«And, okay, sometimes the result doesn’t come out the way you wish or hope or doesn’t always translate to maybe the effort you put in. But that’s sport.
«I’m always going to look myself in the mirror and try to be as critical as possible. And I wish I’d found some more consistency this year.
«But honestly, getting back into the sport after the McLaren period, I was more just looking for speed and proving to myself that I could still run at the front with these guys.
«And there have been moments of that.
«Obviously, I wish I could produce it every weekend, but if I take a little bit of heat away from myself, I think it’s also hard to do in a midfield battle.»