Verstappen finished second in the race, which was won by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton. The collision happened on lap 44 at Interlagos when backmarker Ocon was trying to overtake to unlap himself.
Hamilton's second win in Sao Paulo was only possible after Force India's backmarker Esteban Ocon clashed with race leader Verstappen on lap 44, causing both cars to spin.
At age 33, Hamilton can now make a run at something once previously unthinkable: The seven titles won by Germany's Michael Schumacher.
The Australian driver, who has won seven races since joining Red Bull in 2014, has agreed to a two-year deal with Renault.
The 20-year-old Dutch driver clocked 1 minute, 13.085 seconds to eclipse veteran Kimi Raikkonen's time of 1:13.78 from 2004.
The last time an F1 race was held here at Le Castellet was in 1990 when Alain Prost won for Ferrari.
Ricciardo said he had not directly spoken to rivals Ferrari and Mercedes, but he hedged when asked if his manager had.
The 20-year-old Dutchman is looking to overcome a recent history of mistakes that left him threatening to head-butt anyone who asked about the crashes.
Hamilton insisted that Ricciardo has been performing more consistently and breaking fewer cars in comparison to his team-mate Max Verstappen.
Ricciardo was also fastest in all three practice sessions and the Australian driver will be confident of securing his second win after victory last month in China.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen claimed second place after having dropped to 14th following an early collision.
Ricciardo is out of contract at Red Bull at the end of the season and expressed interest in joining teams like Mercedes or Ferrari to help him challenge for the championship.
Ricciardo, however, said that if Red Bull continue to make a disappointing finish in every single race this year then he would have no other option but to leave.
The Spaniard's finish also equalled the best result McLaren managed to notch in the last three years with former engine supplier Honda.
The four drivers behind Hamilton were separated by just over 0.3 second, setting up the promise of an extremely competitive race on Sunday between Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.
The heavy rains subsided by early afternoon, allowing the track to rapidly dry during the third practice session and making conditions safe for drivers to test their soft tires.
Here is a detailed list of the Formula One teams and drivers for the 2018 season of Formula One which begins with Australian GP on March 25, Sunday.
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton was less than a tenth of a second behind Ricciardo with the slightly slower ultrasoft tyres on his Mercedes, followed by Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel.
The Australian has said that the highest class auto racing is a talk around who has the fastest car rather than the natural driving talent.
Despite Vettel leading the title chase for the first half of the Formula One championship, it was Hamilton who eventually took his fourth drivers' championship title.
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