Who is better, Ricciardo or Kovalainen?
Daniel Ricciardo leads with a GOAT score of 69.5 against 69.4 for Heikki Kovalainen — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Ricciardo vs Kovalainen
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Daniel Ricciardo above Heikki Kovalainen: 69.5 vs 69.4. Daniel Ricciardo leads on Longevity. Heikki Kovalainen leads on Peak, Honours, Statistics.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
RicciardoWinner
69.5Ricciardo wins: Longevity
Kovalainen
69.4Kovalainen wins: Peak, Honours, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to Formula 1Shareable URL · /compare/daniel-ricciardo-vs-heikki-kovalainen
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇦🇺 Daniel Ricciardo
69.5
Ricciardo leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Daniel Ricciardo
2. Heikki Kovalainen
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇦🇺 Daniel Ricciardo5 seasons played · career day 1,825360 race wins
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇫🇮 Heikki Kovalainen5 seasons played · career day 1,8254 race wins
-98.9% vs Ricciardo at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺 Ricciardo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 360 | 1,040 |
| 🇫🇮 Kovalainen | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | RicciardoRetired | KovalainenRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix wins | 8 | 1 |
| Podiums | 32 | 4 |
| Pole positions | 3 | 1 |
| Race starts | 257 | — |
| Best championship finish | 3 | 7 |
| Grand Prix starts | — | 111 |
| Dominance w25% | 64 | 64 |
| Peak w20% | 78 | 82 |
| Longevity w20% | 76 | 68 |
| Honours w20% | 58 | 60 |
| Statistics w15% | 74 | 76 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Ricciardo69.5
Kovalainen69.4
FAQ
Where does Kovalainen beat Ricciardo?
Kovalainen scores higher on peak, honours, statistics. Ricciardo leads on longevity.
How is the Ricciardo vs Kovalainen score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Ricciardo: 69.5, Kovalainen: 69.4.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Ricciardo vs Kovalainen. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.