It’s not a no-brainer that F1 drivers are one of the most fit and ripped athletes in the whole world. Lewis Hamilton, who is undoubtedly the most successful F1 driver ever, statistically, is also a man who leads the fitness game strongly. However, there was one time when Daniel Ricciardo didn’t think so.
Ricciardo, back in 2017 called himself “the most ripped guy on the grid,” and there was immense humility in him for not asking anyone else to come for a size-up competition. “I’ve never gone up to the other [drivers] and said, ‘Lift up your shirt and let’s have an ab-off,‘” said the Honey Badger to GQ.
Following this, he took a subtle dig at Hamilton, who often takes shirtless selfies to show his fitness. “Unlike a few of them, I don’t take selfies with my shirt off… Lewis Hamilton takes a few shirtless selfies though! I don’t think he’s that ripped really,” revealed the AlphaTauri star.
Notably, Ricciardo also shared his fitness routine to show how fit a person needs to remain in F1. He said that a driver needs to have no more than ten percent athlete-grade fat in his body.
They also have to have an immensely strong core, and endurance to handle the impeccable G-forces (up to 5G) and all of these make the body lean instead of bulky.
McLaren showed Daniel Ricciardo his reality against Lewis Hamilton
There was a time when Daniel Ricciardo thought himself to be very superior to other F1 drivers. So much so that he used to believe that he was quicker than Lewis Hamilton! However, his McLaren stint unraveled the reality.
Ricciardo had two years with the Papayas where he not only failed miserably but also failed to be at par with his teammate Lando Norris, a driver with less experience than him. This was the time Ricciardo’s self-belief went through a drastic hit and he was never the same driver again.
Notably, Ricciardo takes all the blame on his shoulder for this. Speaking about it, the Honey Badger said as per SpeedCafe, “I’ll always take some responsibility or accountability. For many years, I truly believed I was the best, and I am the best in the world, so whatever the situation, I’ll be able to overcome it.”
“And obviously with McLaren, it was tough for me to do that. So yeah, I was aware that I’m not the perfect driver, I do have weaknesses, so I’ll always hold something on to myself,” further conceded the Australian driver. As things stand, he is with AlphaTauri for the 2024 F1 season after getting back to Red Bull as the reserve driver capacity in 2023.
