Daniel Ricciardo reacts to Max Verstappen making F1 title fight "more exciting" than the McLaren drivers

Daniel Ricciardo has shared his reaction to Max Verstappen bringing the F1 drivers' championship alive by making it a three-way battle between him and the McLaren duo. Oscar Piastri leads the championship with five races to go, with teammate Lando Norris right behind him and Verstappen in P3.

Ricciardo was discussing the happenings at the United States Grand Prix via a WhatsApp community chat facilitated by WhatsApp and OffBall, which was free for fans to join. Roughly midway through the 56-lap race, when Max Verstappen, who started on pole and built a comfortable gap over Charles Leclerc in P2, Daniel Ricciardo expressed how exciting the championship battle had become with the Red Bull driver back in the mix.

The Australian driver, who drove for both Red Bull and McLaren during his F1 career, sent a voice message in "The Chat," an excerpt of which was:

"Max is really keeping this championship even more exciting than it already was with Oscar and Lando. So the popcorn will continue, enjoy, you got half the race left. Looking forward to it."

Earlier in the race, when Verstappen capitalized on pole and steadily continued extending his lead over Leclerc and Norris, Ricciardo wrote in the chat:

"Haha, yeah, Max is ridiculous. Kids so good. Yes, I'm stating the obvious, I know."

Max Verstappen won the United States Grand Prix to take his 68th career victory and his fourth at the Circuit of The Americas. The lights-to-flag victory handed him 25 points, reducing the gap to Lando Norris, who finished in P2, to 26 points. Championship leader Oscar Piastri finished where he started in P5, earning 10 points for his effort. The gap between Piastri and Norris came down to 14 points, and the gap between Verstappen and Piastri was reduced to 40 points.

Max Verstappen points out the crucial factor that helped him win the United States GP

Max Verstappen celebrates on the podium after winning the 2025 F1 United States Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen getting off to a good start off the line on the opening lap of the US GP meant half the job was done. Moreover, Charles Leclerc, who started in P3, overtook Lando Norris after Turn 1, which made Verstappen's job easier.

Norris was stuck behind Leclerc for 20 laps attempting to pass him after the two main DRS zones - in Turn 1 and Turn 12. The Ferrari driver made his life difficult, and it was on lap 21 that Norris finally overtook Leclerc in Turn 12. By then, Verstappen was nearly 10 seconds ahead of them.

The four-time champion attributed his win to the lead he gained in that first stint on the Medium tires. In the post-race interview with Martin Brundle for F1TV, he reflected on the victory, saying:

"Yeah, it was an unbelievable weekend for us. I knew that, of course, the race was not gonna be super straightforward. If you look at the whole race, the pace between myself and Lando was really close." "I think the first stint is where we made the difference. I could eke out a little bit of a gap, and that's basically what we kept till the end. It wasn't easy to manage the tires on both of the stints, but we kept it in the lead. Got to be proud of everyone to deliver a weekend like this," the Dutchman added.

Max Verstappen has reduced the gap to championship leader Oscar Piastri from 104 points to 40 points in the last four race weekends. The Red Bull driver has a 40-point deficit to overcome in the remaining five races of 2025 to win his fifth consecutive F1 title.

Edited by Yash Kotak