Lewis Hamilton has said it would be a "privilege" to race alongside Daniel Ricciardo in the same team, following comments from the Red Bull driver in which he named Hamilton or Fernando Alonso as his dream team-mate.
When asked for his thoughts on Ricciardo's comments, Hamilton replied: "Daniel is a fantastic driver, it would be a privilege to race against him," he told Motorsport.
“He’s a great character, he always brings a lot of positivity within his team," he added. "I think it’s interesting, I think it’s cool. I take the compliment."
The Briton says he understands why drivers might want to go up against him in the same team, but said Ricciardo needs to prove he can beat Max Verstappen before thinking about beating another driver.
"I don’t truly necessarily believe that people want to be up alongside me because that is not always necessarily the best thing for an individual. But in some cases, it could be a really good thing because it can help you grow.
“You look at Daniel, he’s got a great driver in his team-mate [Verstappen] and to be honest, he has got to really work to outperform him first.
“You’ve always got to beat the person you’re with first before you can look at competing against someone else and beating them."
Both Hamilton and Ricciardo are out of contract at the end of 2018.
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