Daniel Ricciardo says it will be the pressure of his youngeౠr team-mates over the next couple of seasons that will prove he is still a front-runner in F1.

The Australian is venturing into only his second season with the Renault team since making his big money switch from Red Bul💧l at the start of 2019. However, this comes after he confirmed he would be switching to rivals McLaren for the 2021 F1 season.

Nonetheless, after seeing off team-mate Nico Hulkenberg 💎in 2019, Ricciardo faces a fresh challenge in Es😼teban Ocon who will be returning to F1 after a year on the sidelines.

Known as a fierce rival to have in your own garage, as demonstrated by the Frenchman’s controversi🐟al clashes with then Force Ind💦ia team-mate Sergio Perez, Ricciardo says it will be a good marker for him.

“I haven’t raced him as a team-mate yet bu🏅t same kind of deal, I’m still pretty excited to have these kind of young little ankle-biters coming at me,” Ricciardo told the F1 Nation.

“I’m excited to see how he goes. We say [some drivers are] rusty. He’s the most 🌌rusty having all last year off as well. So I know he’s chomping at the bit to get going.”

The same can be said♕ for Ricciardo’s future team-mate Lando Norris, who is on the trajectory after a very encouraging rookie season with McLaren in 2019.

“I mean, hopefully a lot. Obvious🧸ly, I felt that with Max at Red Bull - I feel like we both lifted each other by pushing each other by being the competitors that we are. I would obviously love that and expect that from Lando, and I say I e🥃xpect it because he had a really strong rookie year.

“I’m pretty sure he out-qualified Carlos [Sainz, his McLaren team mate]. That’s quite a statement for his rookie year. So I expect him to be▨ there and I think we’re both pretty easy-going once the helmet’s off, and I think ꦦpeople probably have a bit of fun with that but I’m sure we’re going to see some good competition.”