Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Joseph Ricciardo is an Australian former racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2011 to 2024. Nicknamed "the Honey Badger," he won eight Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Over his Formula One career, Ricciardo achieved eight race wins, three pole positions, 17 fastest laps, and 32 podiums. Upon his retirement in 2025, he became the global ambassador for Ford Racing.

Ricciardo was born on 1 July 1989 in Perth, Western Australia, to Italian-Australian parents. His father, Giuseppe "Joe" Ricciardo, was born in Ficarra, Messina, and moved to Australia at age seven, while his mother, Grace Pulitanò, was born in Australia to parents from Casignana, Calabria. Ricciardo grew up in Duncraig with his sister, Michelle. Raised Catholic, he attended Newman College. His earliest motorsports memories involved his father racing at Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo.

Ricciardo began competitive kart racing at age nine with the Tiger Kart Club. In 2005, he won the Australian championship in karts and placed eighth in the Western Australian Formula Ford championship. Selected by the Red Bull Junior Team in 2007, he won his first title at the 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 WEC with SG Formula. He won the 2009 British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin Motorsport and finished as the 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 Series runner-up to Mikhail Aleshin by two points with Tech 1.

After testing for Red Bull Racing and serving as a reserve driver, Ricciardo made his Formula One debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with HRT, replacing Narain Karthikeyan for the rest of 2011. He secured a full-time drive with Toro Rosso for 2012 and 2013 alongside Jean-Éric Vergne. During his time with Toro Rosso, Ricciardo recorded several points finishes, including a seventh-place result in China and Italy in 2013.

In 2014, Ricciardo was promoted to Red Bull Racing to partner Sebastian Vettel, replacing Mark Webber. In his first season with Red Bull, Ricciardo finished third in the championship and claimed his maiden victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, alongside wins in Hungary and Belgium. He took his maiden pole position in Monaco and won the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2016, finishing third overall. He earned further Red Bull wins at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the 2018 Chinese and Monaco Grands Prix.

Ricciardo signed with Renault for 2019 and retained his seat through 2020, achieving multiple podiums and finishing fifth overall in 2020. He joined McLaren in 2021 alongside Lando Norris, securing his only victory for the team at the Italian Grand Prix. After leaving McLaren at the end of 2022, he returned to Red Bull as a reserve driver in 2023. He joined AlphaTauri during the 2023 season, replacing Nyck de Vries, and remained in 2024 as RB before being replaced by Liam Lawson after the Singapore Grand Prix.

Alongside his racing achievements, Ricciardo was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Australia Day Honours.