Daniel Ricciardo Reveals How He and Josh Allen Became ‘Good Mates’: ‘He’s a Little Big Brother’ (Exclusive)

The "Drive to Survive" star exclusively tells PEOPLE he and Allen share a love of similar comedy movies and a glass of bourbon

Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen have been friends for years — and now the sports stars appear alongside one another in Beats' hilarious new short film.

"It's so funny. I feel like he's a big brother, but he's actually a much younger brother, so he's the little big brother," Ricciardo, 35, tells PEOPLE exclusively of Allen, 28.

The Australian-Italian driver says he first met Allen — whose agent is "best friends" with Ricciardo's agent — when the NFL star came to the Monaco Grand Prix in 2019. "I think when he came to the race and saw it at first, he kind of fell in love with it," he says.

Ricciardo recalls "hitting it off" with Allen right away after that. "Kind of like in Step Brothers, the 'Did we just become best friends?' thing. And then I very quickly got into the Bills and the NFL so we just started following each other," he shares.

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Allen "came to a few more races" and Ricciardo "went to a few football games" to support one another (although Ricciardo notes he hasn't yet made it to a home game in Buffalo) and the two "quickly became good mates," says the Drive to Survive star.

The Bills star is "in all seriousness, very very polite" and "majestic" according to Ricciardo, and the athletes share a similar taste in movies, like mutual favorites Dumb & Dumber, Ace Ventura starring Jim Carrey and "all the Will Ferrell stuff."

"We like the same movies, we like the same kind of silly humor. Basically everything he says I laugh at and I'm normally the biggest goofball in the room, but I actually think Josh overtakes me there," says Ricciardo.

He adds, "It's pretty cool because obviously to a lot of people, he's this NFL quarterback and he's big and I think the initial impression is intimidating, but he's just a big goofball. I'm just a bigger scale size of me. But we're very simple."

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Related: F1's Daniel Ricciardo Talks His 'Killer Instinct' and Catching a Pass (on a Boat) from Tom Brady

Allen and Ricciardo also like "riding bikes" and "little things" together. "We enjoy a glass of bourbon too," says the F1 star.

Now, the athletes are showcasing their friendship in a new short film for Beats called "The Legend of Ricallen." Starring alongside White Lotus star Lukas Gage, Ricciardo tells PEOPLE he and Allen had "the best time" shooting the project.

"I really enjoyed it," Ricciardo says of working with his friend Allen on the short film. "It's really silly and funny and I found it really hard not to laugh. I kept messing up because I would just find it so funny and I couldn't keep a straight face."

Related: Hailee Steinfeld and Josh Allen's Relationship Timeline

Ricciardo adds that Gage, 29, is "obviously much more professional than myself or Josh," and was "so good at maintaining not laughing" on set.

The film follows the story of the real-life BFFs as they find inspiration from other high-profile celebrity bromances. The guys grapple with deciding which "wildly impractical purchase" they want to make together.

Viewers can now watch the full film at LegendofRicallen.com and on Beats' social channels (HERE and HERE) and can snag exclusive Ricallen apparel via Daniel's label, Enchanté. 

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