Daniel Ricciardo thought his inter-team relationship with Max Verstappen went “better than I thought it would go” having initially expected their personalities to clash.

The pair were team-mates at Red Bull for just under three years from when Verstappen was promoted to the senior team at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

From that point on they developed a genuine respect between each other out of the car, even through some tough on-track moments such as their collisions in Hungary 2017 and Baku earlier this season.

Speaking in a Red Bull end-of-season podcast, Ricciardo – who joins Renault in 2019 – admits he anticipated his and Verstappen’s inner self-belief to result in a tenser relationship.

“I’d say the relationship with Max and myself went better than, I’ll be honest, I thought it would go,” Ricciardo said.

“Just our personalities and our self-belief. I really believe he thinks he’s the best in the world and I believe I am.

“So, that can obviously clash. But we always managed at least 99% of the time managed to keep that in its own little place.

“It was cool, it was a good, hard fight with him and I enjoyed it.”

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The duo have been relatively close in performance as team-mates, sharing nine wins between them in three years.

Verstappen’s win on debut for Red Bull in Spain 2016 forced Ricciardo to raise his game, and the Australian believes his young adversary is a ” lot quicker” driver than two years ago.

“There’s a lot of potential, for sure some potential greatness for Max,” added Ricciardo.

“I think it’s all about the trajectory. He was quick from day one but I’m convinced he’s a lot quicker than his first win for Red Bull.

“So, I’m sure he’ll keep improving, but it’s probably going to be more of a scenario/situation if he’s going to be in a car that’s capable.

“That’s probably going to dictate what levels of greatness he’s going to achieve.

“He’s obviously very talented and I’ve enjoyed the challenge with him, the rivalry. I think we’ve both grown as drivers – it’s been beneficial to both of our careers.”