Lando Norris admitted he and Daniel Ricciardo both “hated” being beaten by each other on race weekends. But Norris also stressed the pair so didn’t enjoy getting the better of each other as a result of their great relationship.
Norris added they got on “pretty well” and “respected each other” away from the race track. The Brit told GQ Magazine: “Carlos [Sainz] and I get on extremely well. I kind of grew up with him. Daniel I got on with pretty well. He and I were the perfect competitors: we hated beating each other like we hated getting beat by one another.
“Away from the track we respected each other massively. I keep it separate; I can be the biggest competitor I need to be on the race track, but I can also respect and be good mates with other people.” His comments come after Netflix’s Drive to Survive producers hyped up a rivalry between Norris and Ricciardo.
In the series, Norris asks his engineers to tell Riccardo to hurry up as he is driving too slow.
READ MORE: Daniel Ricciardo warned F1 career could be ‘over’ after final chance
The fellow Australian will make his F1 debut in Bahrain after a year on the sidelines since winning the F2 crown. Ricciardo will return to Red Bull as the team’s third driver with a focus on promotional and simulator work.
Despite his struggles, Ricciardo praised Norris earlier in the season as he opened up on their partnership. He explained: “I felt like a lot of people probably wanted us to be best friends from day one.” said Ricciardo. And it was something that we couldn’t really force and it did take a bit of time to really create a good relationship.
“But in saying that, there wasn’t tension or anything, it was just that we were trying to figure each other out. Currently, where I sit today, I think we have a very good relationship.”
