Daniel Ricciardo raced against some of Formula 1’s greatest ever drivers during his 13-year stint in the sport.

It’s a testament to Ricciardo’s longevity that, when he made his F1 debut in 2011, Michael Schumacher was still racing at Mercedes. Fernando Alonso was only in his second year at Ferrari.

In 2014, when he joined Red Bull, he got to share a garage with reigning four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. He would be arguably the biggest challenger to Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes at the start of the turbo/hybrid era.

How would Daniel Ricciardo's F1 career have gone if he had stayed at Red Bull?

Ricciardo left Red Bull to join Renault at the end of his contract in 2018

Daniel Ricciardo reminds F1 fans Sebastian Vettel was ‘one of the greatest to ever do it’

Ricciardo came to be regarded as one of F1’s top drivers by beating Vettel convincingly in 2014. The German left to join Ferrari at the end of the year.

Vettel wouldn’t add to his four titles, but still retired as the third-most successful driver ever in terms of race victories before he was overtaken by Verstappen.

Potentially due to his ‘private’ demeanour, Ricciardo feels Vettel has been ‘forgotten’ in some quarters despite the success he achieved. He likes the idea of reuniting with his old teammate for a one-off race, maybe even Le Mans.

“His personal life was always quite private,” Ricciardo told Beyond the Grid. “He’s always done well to stay off the radar.

“Sometimes, he’s forgotten. No, this was one of the greatest to ever to do it. There’s no denying that he still is extremely fast and would be fast in anything. I freaking love Seb.”

What surprised Daniel Ricciardo about Sebastian Vettel when he joined Red Bull

Ricciardo was struck by Vettel’s directness behind the scenes, particularly when he was talking to Red Bull’s struggling engine supplier, Renault.

“What I learnt from him is that you can be hard and direct but still liked,” he explained. “He was like that when it came to debriefs and within the team.

“That year with Renault, we were having some difficulties. He was extremely hard on them, but did it in a way that kept them onside. It wasn’t belittling them, abusing them, nothing like that.

“The directness was something that I tried to learn from.”

Vettel was 35 when he retired from racing, while contemporaries Alonso and Hamilton have raced well into their 40s. He lost his Ferrari seat in 2020 and then spent his final two years in the midfield with Aston Martin.

Part of Vettel’s problem, in terms of appreciation, is that he peaked relatively early. He became F1’s youngest world champion in 2010 at the age of 23 – a record Kimi Antonelli is about to break – and won the next three titles, too.

Vettel failed to end Ferrari’s championship drought due to a combination of individual and collective failings. He was then effectively forced out of the team by academy graduate Charles Leclerc.

Still, Hamilton regards Vettel as his toughest opponent, which is perhaps the ultimate compliment.