Daniel Ricciardo

Biography of F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo

Hailing from Australia, Daniel Ricciardo embraced karting at the age of nine, gradually ascending through various racing categories before securing victory in the British Formula 3 Championship in 2009.

Dubbed the 'Honey Badger' for his easygoing demeanor and spirited approach on the track, Ricciardo developed a profound admiration for NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, choosing the number 3 as his racing identifier in tribute to the iconic figure.

Curious about how Ricciardo embarked on his journey from Perth to Formula 1? Discover the ins and outs of Daniel Ricciardo's life here.

F1 debut and Toro Rosso seat

Ricciardo made his first appearance in an F1 car during a young driver test at Jerez in December 2009 for Red Bull. He finished the day at the top of the timesheets, earning him the role of test and reserve driver for Red Bull and sister team Toro Rosso alongside Brendon Hartley, until the New Zealander was removed from the Red Bull Junior Team.

Confirmed as Toro Rosso's reserve for 2011, Ricciardo soon found his way onto the Formula 1 grid. Hispania Racing brought him in midway through the season to replace Narain Karthikeyan for the remaining races, barring the Indian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix, and even took part in the inaugural Indian GP after Red Bull paid the Spanish team in order to help his learning curve. As a result, it was Vitantonio Liuzzi that made way for Indian driver Karthikeyan.

Ricciardo's performances eventually earned him a seat alongside Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso for the 2012 season, and he took his first World Championship points at his home race in Australia. He would finish in the points at another five races, ending the season with 10 points.

The 2013 F1 season saw Ricciardo demonstrate his potential, outscoring Vergne 20 to 13 while outqualifying his teammate in over three-quarters of the races that year. It was enough for Red Bull to deem him worthy of a call-up to the senior team, where he replaced fellow countryman Mark Webber.

Stepping up to Red Bull

Partnering four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel, Ricciardo qualified second behind Lewis Hamilton in his first race of the season. To the delight of the home fans, he finished second in the race despite late pressure from rookie Kevin Magnussen.

Unfortunately for Ricciardo, the result wouldn't stand. He was disqualified after his Red Bull was deemed to have exceeded the mandated hourly fuel flow rate limit. Although the team filed an appeal, the FIA decision was upheld, ending Ricciardo's hopes of becoming the first Australian to finish on the podium at home since the event became a part of the World Championship in 1985.

After failing to finish in Malaysia, Ricciardo scored his first points of the season in Bahrain. He took that to the next level in Canada, becoming the fourth Australian after Jack Brabham, Alan Jones and Mark Webber to win a race, ending Mercedes' run of six straight victories in 2014 in the process.

He added a second win in Hungary, despite finding himself third behind Fernando Alonso and Hamilton with fewer than four laps remaining. However, after getting past the Mercedes and the Ferrari, Ricciardo went on to claim victory by more than five seconds. He made it back-to-back wins in Belgium, and he ended the season as the only non-Mercedes driver to win a race in 2014.

Having outperformed his more illustrious teammate Vettel all season, the German headed to Ferrari and Daniil Kvyat took his place at Red Bull. Ricciardo ended the season third in the Drivers' Championship, and took home the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year.

A challenging second season

Ricciardo and Red Bull fell short of their championship aspirations in 2015, facing a setback as the team lagged behind Ferrari and Williams due to struggles with the Renault power unit. This power unit had been outpaced in development by Mercedes and Ferrari.

Consequently, the RB11 demonstrated its prowess primarily at high-downforce circuits or under wet conditions. Ricciardo's notable performance in the early part of the season occurred in Monaco, where he secured a fifth-place finish and set the fastest lap of the race.

Hungary marked the turning point, being the 10th Grand Prix of the season, where Ricciardo clinched his first podium finish of the year, securing third place. A potentially better outcome was hindered by a collision with Nico Rosberg as he pursued eventual race-winner Sebastian Vettel.

The second and final podium finish materialized in Singapore, with Vettel once again emerging victorious.

Ultimately, Ricciardo concluded the season in eighth place in the Drivers' Championship with 92 points, trailing teammate Kvyat by three points. Despite this, Ricciardo demonstrated superiority in single-lap pace, outqualifying his teammate 14 to 5.

Ricciardo and Red Bull back on form

Red Bull entered 2016 with a much more competitive package, and it showed immediately. Back-to-back fourth-place finishes in Australia and Bahrain were followed by the second-fastest time in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. Ricciardo led early on before suffering a blown tyre, which consigned him to another fourth-place finish.

Max Verstappen became Ricciardo's new teammate at the Spanish Grand Prix, an event that the Dutchman won while the Australian had to settle for fourth after a late tyre blowout. Despite taking pole in Monaco, a slow pit-stop ended his hopes and handed victory to Lewis Hamilton.

Podium finishes followed in Hungary and Germany, with Ricciardo introducing a new celebration - the shoey - where he drank out of his shoe. The gesture appeared in Belgium as well, where Ricciardo came second, and he was joined by podium interviewer Webber.

Ricciardo's lone win of the season came in Malaysia, taking advantage of Hamilton's engine failure to take the chequered flag. He ended the year third in the Drivers' Championship.

Parting ways with Red Bull

The 2017 season marked Ricciardo's fifth career victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, overcoming a 10th-place qualifying position. His consistent performance placed him initially on track for a fourth-place finish in the Drivers' Championship, securing five consecutive podiums between the Spanish and Austrian Grands Prix, and an additional three between Singapore and Japan.

However, a series of retirements in three of the last four races led to his drop to fifth in the final standings.

The subsequent season did not show significant improvement, although Ricciardo claimed victory in China and Monaco. The latter race showcased his skill in fending off Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari despite power loss challenges throughout.

Regrettably, Ricciardo faced retirements in eight Grands Prix, tying for the most DNFs in the 2018 campaign, ultimately finishing sixth in the Drivers' Championship.

In August 2018, it was officially announced that Ricciardo would be departing from Red Bull after signing a two-year contract with Renault.

Renault and move to McLaren

Partnered with Nico Hulkenberg, Ricciardo's Renault adventure started off poorly with back-to-back retirements at the beginning of the season. In Azerbaijan, the Australian reversed into former teammate Daniil Kvyat, forcing both drivers to retire, whilst his best finish of the season came in Italy with a fourth. Hulkenberg finished fifth, making it Renault's best result since the team's return to Formula 1 in 2016.

In the end, Riccardo finished down in ninth place in the championship, but ahead of Hulkenberg.

Ricciardo was joined by a new teammate in 2020 as Hulkenberg was replaced by Esteban Ocon. Although Ricciardo retired from the opening race of the season, he followed it up with three straight points finishes, including fourth at the British Grand Prix.

An 11-race points-scoring streak started in Belgium and included third-place finishes at the Eifel and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix. The former was Renault's first podium since the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix, and Ricciardo's first since his win at Monaco in 2018.

Although Ricciardo ended the season fifth in the Drivers' Championship, he opted to leave Renault and signed a deal with McLaren. He joined Lando Norris, with Carlos Sainz moving to Ferrari.

Mixed fortunes at McLaren

Like several other drivers who had switched teams for the 2021 season, Ricciardo initially struggled to adapt to his new car, and was outperformed by teammate Norris.

The Australian seemed to have some particular difficulties in qualifying. At the third race of the season in Portugal, Ricciardo failed to make it out of Q1, and lined up 16th on the grid.

Monaco - a track where Ricciardo had previously won - proved to be a challenging weekend too, with the McLaren driver failing to progress from his grid position of 12th. The poor result left Ricciardo mystified by his lack of pace.

There were a series of ups and downs for Ricciardo in the races that followed, but things seemed to turn a corner after the summer break in August.

This became evident at the Italian Grand Prix weekend, where Ricciardo performed strongly in Saturday's Sprint race to line up second on the grid for Sunday's main event.

Ricciardo maintained his form in the race and clinched his first win in F1 since 2018. It proved to be a special day for McLaren, as Norris took second, making it a 1-2 finish for the squad.

The win was an emotional one for Ricciardo, though he also acknowledged that there was still progress to be made by himself and the team.

At the next event in Russia, Ricciardo continued his good run by finishing fourth. However, this was followed by some more challenging weekends in the latter half of the season, including a particularly difficult series of races in November's triple-header of Mexico, Brazil and Qatar.

A fifth place came at the penultimate Grand Prix of the year in Saudi Arabia, but Ricciardo finished outside of the points in 12th at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Overall, the Australian finished the 2021 World Championship in eighth with 115 points, whilst teammate Norris scored 160 points to secure sixth.

Last season at McLaren

In 2022, Ricciardo will enter into his second season with McLaren in Formula 1. He has admitted that he needs to make "another step" in order to improve.

During the winter break, Ricciardo revealed plans to return to Australia, having not had a chance to visit his family for a long time due to restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic. This trip would involve spending two weeks in quarantine.

However, Ricciardo had a dramatic season and underperformed teammate Norris by a considerable margin. The Australian scored no less than three times as few points. For McLaren, that was reason enough not to continue the partnership with Ricciardo in 2023 and so he will not appear on the Formula 1 grid by default. He will be replaced by his younger compatriot Oscar Piastri.

Third driver at Red Bull Racing

The only possibility of seeing Ricciardo still on the grid is if Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez cannot or are not allowed to race. This is because in 2023, Ricciardo fulfils the role of reserve and test driver at Red Bull; the team with which he won seven Grands Prix. Apart from these roles, of course, the good-humoured driver is also a big market gain for the Milton Keynes-based team. Ricciardo has no ambition to leave Formula 1 (yet) and hopes for another permanent spot on the grid in the future, who knows in 2024.

In any case, Helmut Marko has announced that Ricciardo will make his first metres in this season's Red Bull RB19 after the British Grand Prix. This will allow Red Bull's team to properly evaluate where the Australian currently stands.

Daniel Ricciardo will drive for AlphaTauri in 2023

Due to disappointing results, AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries had to give up his seat immediately after the British Grand Prix. It was soon announced that Daniel Ricciardo will step into the AlphaTauri car from the Hungarian Grand Prix to finish the 2023 season.

Ricciardo breaks hand during VT2 in the Netherlands

After driving two races for AlphaTauri, the eight-time race winner unfortunately had to temporarily relinquish his seat to reserve driver Liam Lawson. Indeed, during the second free practice session in the Netherlands, Ricciardo broke his hand and was unable to drive. Liam Lawson temporarily takes over his seat and has since driven the Dutch Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix. It is not yet known when the Australian will step in again. There is very little chance that this will be at the Singapore Grand Prix already.

Daniel Ricciardo back behind the wheel from the United States GP

Following the Zandvoort crash, Ricciardo was unable to participate in the Grand Prix events in Italy, Singapore, Japan, and Qatar. Fortunately, his fractured metacarpal bone had sufficiently healed in time for the United States Grand Prix, allowing him to reclaim his position as a regular driver for AlphaTauri. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo will once again be racing for the Italian team in the 2024 season.

2024 | A full season for Visa Cash App RB

Ahead of the 2024 season, it seemed like the 'Honey Badger' would be driving a full season for AlphaTauri. However, the team announced that Ricciardo would be leaving at the end of the season. After more than a decade in Formula 1, Ricciardo hung up his helmet. He was replaced by Liam Lawson, who will be driving for Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen from 2025.