Max Verstappen said that Daniel Ricciardo transformed into a “terrorist” during a karting event at the 2023 edition of Honda Thanks Day. The AlphaTauri driver deliberately spun the reigning world champion around during the race after cutting a corner to catch up to him.
During the karting segment of the event, Ricciardo made a beeline for his former team-mate, deliberately sending him into a spin with a nudge from behind before disappearing up the road to hunt down more drivers.
Discussing the incident after the session Verstappen gave his insight, saying: “It started off quite well but then Daniel decided to be a terrorist. He was literally trying to kill everyone out there.”
The karting was one of many festivities taking place during 2023’s edition of the Honda Thanks Day event, which took place at the Mobility Resort Motegi – home to the Twin Ring Motegi circuit that hosts both MotoGP and Super Formula races.
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As well as Verstappen and Ricciardo, the former’s team-mate Sergio Perez was in attendance as part of his duties with Red Bull, while Yuki Tsunoda and eight-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez were also present at the event.
While he was away in Japan performing contractual obligations for Red Bull, Verstappen missed the annual Autosport Awards, at which he was designated the International Racing Driver of the Year award following a fan vote.
The 26-year-old beat IndyCar champion Alex Palou and Formula E champion Jake Dennis to the award after enjoying the most dominant individual season in F1 history. Verstappen took 19 wins from a possible 22 Grands Prix as he romped to the title with multiple rounds to spare.
Verstappen discussed his record-breaking year after the season finale in Abu Dhabi just over one week ago, stating: “I have to say thanks to everyone at Red Bull it’s been an incredible year. It will be hard to do something similar, but we definitely enjoyed this year.
“It will be very hard to have another season like this, we know that. You always want to do better, but doing better is not always race wins and winning the championship.
“We are working hard for next year for a very competitive car. For sure all the other teams want to try and beat us next year, but we are ready for the battle and in the meantime, we’re going to enjoy this year as well.”
