Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo recently made comments about his thoughts on where most of Lewis Hamilton’s success in the sport comes from.
Following the 2017 Formula One season finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo commented on the season of Scuderia Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who passed Ricciardo in the final drivers standings for 4th place in Abu Dhabi.
While controversial, Ricciardo’s claim that Raikkonen should have been far ahead of him in the final standings given the speed of his car was accurate. It was far more along the lines of an honest assessment than a rude remark.
Now, Ricciardo had more to say about a fellow driver, this time discussing Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton is now a four-time champion of the sport after winning this past season’s title, his third in the last four years.
Ricciardo made the claim that while Hamilton is a great driver, much of his success in Formula One, especially over the last few years, has stemmed from the fact that he is driving the fastest car for the fastest team in the sport.
Here were his exact words, courtesy of Express.co.uk.
"“The car is a big part of it, but you need to be a good driver to get the equipment to the top. You need both. It’s still a bit more dominant with the car than the driver, I’d say maybe 75 percent to 25 percent.“If we make it a bit more equal by bringing the driver in a bit more and taking the equipment out then that would be better. A 50/50 would be something more realistic in the near future and hopefully that’s the case.“Even from Lewis to the guy that’s coming last, maybe the lap time says three seconds but the driver is maximum one second. We are all a lot closer than that and it would be great if we could all stay within one second with the equipment. Then the racing would be pretty fun.”"
More from Formula One
- Formula 1: Top Red Bull threat identified for 2024
- Formula 1: Why the Max Verstappen retirement obsession?
- Formula 1: Williams ‘mistake’ hints Logan Sargeant’s future
- Formula 1 awaiting key confirmation for 2024 season
- Formula 1: The ‘championship’ Max Verstappen only leads by 3 points
Much like the case was with his comments about Raikkonen, there is nothing wrong with what Ricciardo’s comments about Hamilton. Sure, some people may see his remarks as controversial, but at the end of the day, it boils down to the reality of the Formula One teams, cars and drivers.
Everybody knows that the cars of some teams are far more powerful than those of other teams, and everybody also knows that Mercedes, the team for which Hamilton drives, is the fastest team in the sport and has been so in each of the past four years. They have won the past four manufacturers championships and they have had the drivers champion in each of the last four seasons. Of the 79 races contested since the start of the 2014 season, the team’s drivers have combined for 63 victories.
Next: Who is the greatest Formula One driver of all-time?
Daniel Ricciardo wasn’t dissing Lewis Hamilton in any way, shape or form. He was pretty much just stating the obvious, and it’s not like he totally snubbed him, either; he did give him credit for being the great driver that he is.