Daniel Ricciardo wants 'little ankle-biters' to push him to next level

Daniel Ricciardo says it will be the pressure of his younger team-mates over the next couple of seasons that will prove he is still a front-runner in F1.

The Australian is venturing into only his second season with the Renault team since making his big money switch from Red Bull at the start of 2019. However, this comes after he confirmed he would be switching to rivals McLaren for the 2021 F1 season.

Nonetheless, after seeing off team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in 2019, Ricciardo faces a fresh challenge in Esteban Ocon who will be returning to F1 after a year on the sidelines.

Known as a fierce rival to have in your own garage, as demonstrated by the Frenchman’s controversial clashes with then Force India team-mate Sergio Perez, Ricciardo says it will be a good marker for him.

“I haven’t raced him as a team-mate yet but same kind of deal, I’m still pretty excited to have these kind of young little ankle-biters coming at me,” Ricciardo told the F1 Nation.

“I’m excited to see how he goes. We say [some drivers are] rusty. He’s the most rusty having all last year off as well. So I know he’s chomping at the bit to get going.”

The same can be said for Ricciardo’s future team-mate Lando Norris, who is on the trajectory after a very encouraging rookie season with McLaren in 2019.

“I mean, hopefully a lot. Obviously, I felt that with Max at Red Bull - I feel like we both lifted each other by pushing each other by being the competitors that we are. I would obviously love that and expect that from Lando, and I say I expect it because he had a really strong rookie year.

“I’m pretty sure he out-qualified Carlos [Sainz, his McLaren team mate]. That’s quite a statement for his rookie year. So I expect him to be there and I think we’re both pretty easy-going once the helmet’s off, and I think people probably have a bit of fun with that but I’m sure we’re going to see some good competition.”