Sebastian Vettel is expecting new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo to give him a “hard time” this year, despite his status as four-time world champion.
The German, when asked if he’ll teach Ricciardo a few things, reckons they can learn from one another, despite his experience exceeding the young Australian’s.
“To give him any advice is very difficult because everybody has their own style,” he said. “I’m sure that there are a lot of things that probably he will learn from me but equally I’m hoping to learn a lot of things from him.
“He’s a different driver, he has a different view of things and I think if you keep your eyes and ears open you can always learn. Even though he doesn’t have the experience that maybe Mark [Webber] had over the last years, but still he’s talented enough, he’s earned his place and I’m sure he’ll give me a hard time.”
It’s likely Ricciardo will take a few races to get up to speed, but Vettel doesn’t expect it to take too long considering he’s already familiar with the Red Bull team after spening two years at sister team Toro Rosso whilst carrying out promotional duties for Red Bull.
“Obviously he’s been in F1 for a couple of years now and has experience. Sure it’s a new step for him, a new environment; not that much of a step [though] because he knows some of the people already. He’s been to the simulator quite a few times over the last couple of years and he knows the staff,” he added.
“Everybody is happy for him to arrive at the team and we’re looking forward to having him on board. Obviously there are a lot of new things this year, everybody has to adapt, so I’m sure he will find his way quickly.”
