"Ruthless" Vettel also "honest and genuine" - Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo claims that whatever Sebastian Vettel opts to do with his life and career after this season, he will always hold the four-time Formula 1 champion in high regard.

With Vettel leaving Ferrari at the end of the year, it is not yet known what is in store for the 32-year-old German from 2021, with many believing he will either take a sabbatical or retire.

Ricciardo partnered Vettel in 2014, a season that proved to be Vettel's last with Red Bull before he opted to move on to Ferrari.

Asked in an F1 Instagram Live interview whether he had good memories of Vettel, Renault driver Ricciardo replied: "I did and I do.

"Really, the thing that I took from that year with Seb was, even through a difficult year by his standards, particularly coming off four [titles] in a row, he was always, as he is, very competitive and ruthless.

"But off the track, he always shook my hand, congratulated me. It seemed that not only was he a good sportsman to me, but he seemed very honest and genuine.

"I obviously respected him from the start, but I think we had respect for each other, and that was cool.

"Yes, he does things relatively differently, He is such a superstar of the sport, yet he is not on here (Instagram) for example, he is not on social media.

"He does things a little bit old school but I respect that path as well. He is not really influenced by too much. He has his ways and he stands by them."

With the start to the season now just three weeks away, Ricciardo is itching to get going, insisting he is "not soft" following months of inactivity.

"If anything it's more fuel to the fire," added the 30-year-old Australian.

"It was nice to have some alone time, time to think and process. It's certainly fuelled my desire more. I've missed racing more than ever, missed competing, missed the limelight, all the stuff that goes with it. I've missed it all.

"Not that I've lost love for it at all. It's just reiterated my love for competing in the sport and my job.

"We travel so much and you go, and you go, and you go, but sometimes you don't really get a chance to stop, and it was, in a way, nice to be forced to stop for our bodies, not being in pressurised cabins all the time and all of that kind of stuff.

"From a performance point of view, it's maybe given me a couple more years on to my career, so I see positives in it."

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