Ricciardo said that Vettel, who will retire from F1 at the end of 2022, gave him welcome moral support at a difficult time.

"He's picked up the phone multiple times this year, and just been a friend, and just like showing care, and just checking in as a true friend would do," said Ricciardo.

“And to have friends like that is so important. But it's also not that common, in terms of on the grid.

"We get on with drivers, and you do build friendships, but to have kind of that deeper level of friendship, and let's say some gestures he made this year, and some of the kindness he showed towards me was, in a way, kind of unexpected. But just super nice."

Asked to elaborate on when Vettel had reached out Ricciardo said: "It had a bit more emphasis around the time of all the contract stuff happening, and when there was a lot of noise.

“And I don't want to single him out because there were some other drivers, but he was the one that was certainly picking up the phone pretty often and checking in."

Dani je napisao/la: 16.11.2022., 20:10 Sebastian Vettel has revealed he spoke with Niki Lauda about joining Mercedes but ultimately decided to stay with Ferrari.
E moj Seb. Bili bi najbolji tim bez premca.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/sebastian ... -mercedes/