Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo believes Nico Hulkenberg's victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours could open the door for more Formula One stars to tackle the famous endurance race.

Force India's Hulkenberg helped Porsche to a one-two at his first Le Mans, ending Audi's recent dominance of the iconic race.

The German became the first active F1 driver to win the event since Johnny Herbert in 1991.

"Racing is what we do, it’s fun," said Ricciardo. "It's nice to have a weekend off but, when I was watching it [Le Mans], I was obviously thinking it would be nice to be racing as well.

"So if we could manage to do more, like they did in the old days as well - there was drivers jumping from categories.

"Fortunately Nico's made us all look good and I think he's made it all seem possible for us now, so maybe we'll get the praise from our teams to venture into these things for the future."

McLaren's Fernando Alonso was thought to be close to securing a drive at this year's Le Mans and has not ruled out taking part in the future.

"Yes, I considered to race in Le Mans," he commented. "In the future, but when in the future I don't know. I just said it was very close this year, so maybe next year. I don't know.

Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz Jr added: "It's professionally one of the most prestigious races in the world and, to participate in that, after participating in F1, it would be something mega.

"Of course, I'm more than open. Anything that has four wheels and a steering wheel and an engine I would like to drive – so whatever."