Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft was put in an awkward situation by reigning World Champion Max Verstappen ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, during the pre-weekend press conference.
Verstappen heads to the Hungaroring with a 99-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship, whilst a win on Sunday would see him claim seven victories in a row.
Most of the attention ahead of the 11th round of the season though is on Verstappen’s former team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who’s returning to the grid this season.
Ricciardo’s sabbatical has been cut short after Red Bull loaned the development driver to AlphaTauri, following the firing of Nyck de Vries.
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Ricciardo is completing the 2023 season for the Faenza-based team, who he last raced for in 2013 prior to moving to Red Bull.
Ricciardo and Verstappen both featured in the same press conference ahead of this weekend, with Croft having asked the Australian about what it was like “going back to your ex”, before Verstappen put the commentator on the spot.
“It’s good to see you back although you’re going back to your ex. They say you sometimes shouldn’t go back to your ex because it’s fraught with potential problems. Is this fraught with potential problems?” Croft asked Ricciardo, before Verstappen butted in.
“You have experience with that?” Verstappen said, before himself and the other drivers on the sofa grinned.
“No. I have absolutely no experience,” replied Croft.
“I just read about it on the internet. I am quite happy with my current fiancé. Thank you very much.”
The comment from Verstappen made the Dutchman giggle, whilst the other drivers all smiled.
Ricciardo did eventually answer Croft’s question, with the commentator having then asked for three reasons why returning to Faenza was a positive for his F1 career.
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“It’s all good. It’s all positive,” Ricciardo said. “I was there last week. The facilities changed a lot in the last 10 years since I was there. It felt like a new team or a fresh environment.
“Also 10 years is a long time. The team changed, I’ve changed. There’s a nice kind of nostalgia going back but I feel like we both evolved and Im starting this next phase with a very fresh page. Also for me I needed to, let’s say stepping aside from the sport a little bit, I changed probably my perspective on things.
“I’m just coming into tis with no ‘what it’s going to be like, it’s going to be a struggle here, it’s going to be frustrating’. I’m just happy to have this opportunity.”