Ricciardo Lauds Veterans' Success Eyes Longevity in F1

Ricciardo praises Alonso and Hamilton’s enduring F1 success but admits longevity requires more.

Daniel Ricciardo does not consider himself too old for Formula 1. The RB F1 driver cites Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, both over 40, as evidence that he too has several years of racing ahead of him.

“They have demonstrated that one can still succeed at an advanced age,” Ricciardo remarked about them, noting their capacity to deliver “particularly good, or exceptionally good” performances.

However, he acknowledges that relying on this argument alone is insufficient: “I’m not saying that it’s enough. But I place great importance on it, especially at this stage of my career when questions arise about my fitness and age.”

Conversely, the Australian believes that his greatest weakness this season is a lack of consistency, and he aims to consistently target the top 10, both Saturday and Sunday: “What I haven’t done well, I would say, is probably maintain consistency.”

“Sometimes, as we know, sometimes not yet, but we haven’t been able to be consistent in Q3 or score points every weekend. So that’s where I’ve not been good—week in and week out—and in this sport, that could be a significant disadvantage.”

Nevertheless, he finds reassurance in his strong performances, though he wishes they were more frequent: “At least the significant results have been substantial enough for people to say, ‘Oh, he can still put in a good lap’, or ‘He can deliver a very, very good lap’.”

“I think what I’m trying to say is that fortunately, the stopwatch can still be very good, and for one reason or another, consistency hasn’t been there, so I need to address that part.”