MARCH 1, 2019

Ricciardo denies running from Verstappen

Daniel Ricciardo has denied he is "running from a fight" with Max Verstappen in 2019.

Daniel Ricciardo has denied he is "running from a fight" with Max Verstappen in 2019.

Christian Horner, the Red Bull boss, made the claim in the new Netflix series Drive to Survive, when contemplating the reason Ricciardo fled to Renault.

"My assumption is that he is running from a fight," Horner said.

But Australian Ricciardo says that is wrong.

"I obviously say no, not true -- I love a good fight," he told EFTM.

"It's more about me than Max and a lot of (other) reasons", Ricciardo said, explaining that he feared becoming frustrated by yet another passing year at Red Bull without a title.

"We never really got close. I'm not bitter about it, it's just the reality," he said.

"It wasn't about Max, I can understand why they'd say that but it's wrong."

But Ricciardo admits that, at least this year, he will be behind Red Bull.

"As you know, the gap to the top three is big so it's not going to happen overnight," he said.

(GMM)