WATCH: Goofy Daniel Ricciardo Becomes a Sebastian Vettel Fanboy During Pre-Season Testing

McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo was spotted waving at former teammate Sebastian Vettel during pre-season testing in Barcelona. Ricciardo and Vettel were part of three-day testing of the new 2022 cars at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The 2022 season is scheduled to begin with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 18-20.

Ricciardo will begin his second season with McLaren alongside Lando Norris driving the new MCL36. The former Red Bull driver was in the stands, while other teams got to grips with their new cars. On seeing Vettel driving the new AMR22, he said, “That’s Sebastian Vettel, he’s my friend.” 

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The duo were teammates at Red Bull in 2014. The Australian also has revealed earlier that Vettel is the ‘best teammate’ he has ever had in Formula 1. Both drivers eventually moved away from the Bulls, while continuing their stint in different teams.

Vettel, now at Aston Martin, won 4 World Championships with the team and is considered a legend of the sport. He also has the third-most race victories (53) and podium finishes (122) and fourth-most pole positions (57). The German won the Drivers’ Championship consecutively in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

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The 32-year-old had a successful debut season with McLaren. With Lando Norris alongside him, many believed that the Australian was well beyond his years. However, he stunned the F1 world by winning the 2021 Italian Grand Prix with Norris in P2.

This season will be crucial for Ricciardo as McLaren will hope to put up a tough fight against the big guns. Norris and Ricciardo were impressive in pre-season testing, with Mercedes and Red Bull realizing their caliber in 2022.

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The Woking team clocked 367 laps over three days, putting them third in the mileage charts, after Ferrari and Mercedes. The team will now move to Bahrain for second pre-season testing ahead of the season opener.

McLaren will have an interesting season ahead for them as they look to return to the pinnacle of Formula 1 yet again. The 8-time Constructors’ Champions will be hoping to add more silverware to their collection.