Daniel Ricciardo pinpoints ‘what is cool’ about F1 rivals Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso

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AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo has now pinpointed ‘what is cool’ about Formula 1 rivals Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and veteran Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso.

The Australian has shared the F1 grid with Hamilton and Alonso off-and-on over the past 13 years. Ricciardo made his debut for HRT mid-way through the 2011 campaign, when Alonso already had nine-and-a-half years under his belt. The Spaniard debuted for Minardi in 2001.

Hamilton, too, had already raced around the world with McLaren since the 2007 season. He broke into the pinnacle of motorsport as Alonso’s teammate after taking the 2006 GP2 title. The Briton has since become the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time over 17 years.

Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver in Formula 1 history

No driver has won more Grand Prix (103), taken pole position (104) more often or made the podium (197) as often as Hamilton. The 38-year-old also matched Michael Schumacher with a record seven F1 world championships. Alonso is a two-time title-winner in 2005 and 2006.

Alonso ranks fourth for podiums (106), seventh for wins (32) and 15th for pole positions (22) in Formula 1. But the 42-year-old has not won a race since his home Spanish GP in 2013 and took his last pole at the 2012 German GP. He has also entered the most F1 Grand Prix (380).

Daniel Ricciardo admires Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso’s longevity in F1

But Ricciardo has now told RacingNews365 that ‘what is cool’ about Alonso and Hamilton is their ability to still compete at the front whilst the grid keeps getting younger. He also thinks the younger drivers arrive with lots of skill, like Ricciardo saw from Lando Norris at McLaren.

“Lando started getting better and better and it looked like I was getting worse and worse,” Ricciardo has explained. “But, of course, Lando proved he is a very good driver.

“It’s interesting when you look at rookies because, like many sports now, it seems like the talent is getting younger and younger. At the same time, you have older guys like Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton showing that you can still do it if you really want to.”

The eight podiums Alonso secured during his ‘dream’ debut season for Aston Martin in 2023 were more than the Spaniard had claimed in his previous seven F1 campaigns combined. He also made more rostrums than Hamilton (6) but scored fewer points than the Mercedes star.

Hamilton finished the 2023 season third in the drivers’ championship as the highest-ranked non-Red Bull driver with 234 points. Alonso finished the year in fourth with 206 points, the same as Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. But the Monegasque (3) finished third (5) in fewer races.