2017 (20 races as team mates):
Qualifying head-to-head: Ricciardo 7 – 13 Verstappen / Race head-to-head: Ricciardo 9 – 11 Verstappen
Points scored: Ricciardo – 200 (70% of races finished in points), fifth in championship / Verstappen – 168 (65% of races finished in points), sixth in championship
Pole positions: Ricciardo 0 (0%) / Verstappen 0 (0%)
Podiums: Ricciardo 9 (45%) / Verstappen 4 (20%)
Wins: Ricciardo 1 (5%) / Verstappen 2 (10%)
The 2017 campaign was a weaker one for Red Bull, with the team often facing reliability issues. Verstappen experienced more retirements than Ricciardo earlier in the season but enjoyed a stronger run at the end, taking two wins in the final six races.
Ricciardo had scored more points by the campaign’s end, yet Verstappen beat his team mate in terms of the qualifying and race day head-to-heads as he continued to hone his skills.
2018 (21 races as team mates):
Qualifying head-to-head: Ricciardo 7 – 14 Verstappen / Race head-to-head: Ricciardo 5 – 14 Verstappen
Points scored: Ricciardo 170 (61.9% of races finished in points), sixth in championship / Verstappen – 249 (81% of races finished in points), fourth in championship
Pole positions: Ricciardo 2 (9.5%) / Verstappen 0 (0%)
Podiums: Ricciardo 2 (9.5%) / Verstappen 11 (52.4%)
Wins: Ricciardo 2 (9.5%) / Verstappen 2 (9.5%)
A season in which the momentum looked to switch in Verstappen’s favour. While Ricciardo clinched two wins during the early stages – in contrast to Verstappen’s tough start to the year – this transpired to be the Australian’s only visits to the podium in 2018.
Verstappen, meanwhile, collected 11 rostrums and outscored his team mate on most counts, though pole position still eluded him and Ricciardo suffered more mechanical DNFs. Both drivers failed to finish in Bahrain and Azerbaijan, with the latter the scene of an infamous collision between them. Ricciardo opted to leave for pastures new at the end of the season, making the switch to Renault for 2019.
