F1 2020: Daniel Ricciardo’s hilarious Lando Norris interview, Cyril Abiteboul bet

Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris whet F1 fans’ appetites with a piece of buddy comedy brilliance before the 70th Anniversary GP.

Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris are going to make a great double act.

Daniel Ricciardo is the master of antics in F1 – but he might have a new apprentice after a hilarious pre-taped segment before the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

After finishing fourth in the British Grand Prix last weekend and starting the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in fifth, Ricciardo sat down for an interview with Sky Sports.

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With new found speed, the Aussie was seemingly loving live and was back to his regular larrikin self in an interview with Jenson Button, although it didn’t translate to a result on the second weekend at Silverstone with a spin out seeing him drop back to 14th.

Despite having a mask on, the Aussie’s telltale smile was still visible as he had some fun with the 2009 F1 World Champ, who couldn’t help bring up the time Ricciardo ruined his chance to get a podium at Silverstone at the 2014 British Grand Prix.

Ricciardo’s fourth saw him fall just short of winning a bet with Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul.

Ricciardo revealed that if he gets a podium, Abiteboul has to get a tattoo. “We made the bet at the beginning of last year and so it was like if we get a podium, it’d be awesome,” Ricciardo said.

Daniel Ricciardo was back to his hilarious best.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, who is set to be Ricciardo’s teammate next year when the Aussie switches teams, and their relationship is already a thing of beauty.

The pair had two battles at last week’s British Grand Prix — a fight on lap 19 and another struggle on lap 50 which saw Ricciardo pounce and pick up a spot.

“I texted him during the week because he’s trying to make it out like it’s the best move of his career,” Norris said, with Ricciardo protesting “I didn’t talk about it, I’m getting asked about it”.

Norris continued: “He makes it out like it’s the best move of his career. Honestly, it wasn’t even an overtake, I pretty much said ‘please come past me Daniel’.”

“Why’d you let me pass?” Ricciardo asked.

“Because I was looking down at my dash,” Norris replied as both men started laughing.

Ricciardo couldn’t help but take another dig.

“Kids mate, kids – too busy playing with their video games I tell you,” he said as Norris knocked his hat off.

Button said “he’s a good one that one”, and Ricciardo replied “Maybe one day a week”.

These two together is going to be fun.

Ricciardo refused to get the hat as well, saying “he wins” if he bent down to get the hat.

He relented and then returned to the tattoo discussion without missing a beat, revealing that he gets to pick out the tattoo, while Abiteboul gets to pick the size and the location.

Returning to the serious questions, Ricciardo said it wasn’t an easy decision to choose to go to McLaren.

“Unless you’re getting a Mercedes contract, it’s not an easy decision,” he said. “Time will tell if it’s the right one or not but that’s really the next phase of my career.

“I’m not saying time is running out but every year that passes now is getting more and more important and I need to put more emphasis on it.”

Ricciardo and Norris have been close and have been trolling and teasing each other since Norris joined Formula One last season.

This included a press conference in 2019 when Ricciardo left Norris crying tears of laughter.