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The shoeys. The jokes. The tattoos. The notorious, exaggerated “Pierreee Gaslyyyyyy!!!” and Nico Hülkenberg shouts.
Daniel Ricciardo isn’t a world champion or among the many Method One all-time greats based mostly on his outcomes — eight wins, three pole positions and 32 podium finishes over 13 seasons. However within the sport’s trendy period, the Australian driver cemented himself as a one-of-a-kind icon by carrying his coronary heart on his sleeve. The authenticity and humanity Ricciardo introduced over time drew in followers, new and outdated.
The Ricciardo glimpses over six seasons of Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ docuseries is similar driver media noticed within the paddock. However beneath the floor is a fierce competitor. His peak got here throughout his Crimson Bull days, from 2014-2018, and his final time on the rostrum occurred in 2021 when he received the Italian Grand Prix, McLaren’s first F1 win since 2012.
“For anybody who thought I left, I by no means left,” he mentioned over the workforce radio that day. “Simply moved apart for some time.”
However he additionally skilled two hiatuses, one when he departed McLaren in 2022 and once more in 2023 as he recovered from surgical procedure whereas competing for AlphaTauri (now often called RB). His velocity is clear, however Ricciardo lacked consistency in 2024. Questions arose whether or not Ricciardo might make a comeback to the senior workforce — a purpose that by no means got here to fruition.
“This yr, the aim was to try to do ok to get again into Crimson Bull and combat for wins once more, see if I’ve nonetheless acquired it,” Ricciardo mentioned in Singapore. “I felt like I got here up brief with that, so I believe it’s then, ‘OK, what else am I preventing for right here? What else goes to provide me success?’”
RB introduced final week that Liam Lawson would change Ricciardo for the rest of the 2024 season. The seemingly awkward exit for Ricciardo led to mass criticism from followers on social media, given Ricciardo’s widespread reputation and a legacy larger than simply statistics and distinctive within the sport’s historical past.
Ricciardo recorded eight wins in 14 seasons on the grid. (Charles Coates/Getty Photographs)
Ricciardo’s F1 profession began equally to the way it ended.
The Australian joined the grid with HRT partway by way of the 2011 season, changing Narain Karthikeyan. The workforce hadn’t scored within the first eight races of the yr and opted handy the reins to the Crimson Bull Academy driver. Throughout Ricciardo’s first season, he usually was close to the again of the grid; nonetheless, he usually out-qualified and completed forward of teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi, certainly one of Crimson Bull’s first F1 drivers.
Crimson Bull promoted Ricciardo the next yr to Toro Rosso, its sister workforce now often called RB. The Australian scored his first factors in 2012 and continued to enhance, ending behind teammate Jean-Eric Vergne in 2012 however forward in 2013. It was sufficient for Crimson Bull to name Ricciardo as much as the senior workforce when Mark Webber left F1 on the finish of the 2013 marketing campaign.
The Crimson Bull chapter (from 2014-2018) grew to become Ricciardo’s glory years. The 2014 season was the daybreak of a brand new hybrid engine period for F1, and he thrived over the subsequent 4 seasons, exhibiting flashes of F1 world champion potential. It was straightforward to imagine he could be Crimson Bull’s No. 2 to teammate Sebastian Vettel, who was a four-time world champion by that time. However whereas Mercedes’ duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg dominated, they had been defeated thrice in 2014 — by Ricciardo every time.
Montreal was the Australian driver’s first F1 win, passing Rosberg with two laps to go. The opposite wins in 2014 got here in Hungary (with spectacular overtakes on Hamilton and Fernando Alonso) and Belgium (bear in mind Hamilton and Rosberg’s collision?). By season’s finish, he completed third within the driver standings and 71 factors forward of Vettel.
Regardless that Crimson Bull fell to the midfield in 2015, Ricciardo managed to safe a couple of podium finishes. When Max Verstappen joined part-way by way of 2016, Ricciardo’s largest battle grew to become his rising teammate. When the 2 went wheel-to-wheel in Malaysia, Ricciardo got here out victorious. As Verstappen grew, the pair battled, memorably crashing out on the 2018 Azerbaijan GP.
Come 2019, Ricciardo left Crimson Bull for Renault, a call many have questioned as Crimson Bull grew to become a powerhouse. The 2-year stint solely led to a couple podium finishes earlier than he moved to McLaren. His time with the Woking-based workforce, although, ended a yr earlier than his contract was set to run out (McLaren signed Oscar Piastri for 2023 as an alternative). Crimson Bull swooped in to maintain Ricciardo across the sport as its “third driver.”
The win at Monaco was the head of Ricciardo’s F1 peak. (Dan Istitene/Getty Photographs)
“I didn’t acknowledge the Daniel (he was) on the finish of his tenure at McLaren,” Crimson Bull workforce principal Christian Horner mentioned on the F1 Nation podcast. “I mentioned to him, ‘Why don’t you come and be part of us, rediscover your ardour on your sport?’” Horner added Ricciardo had “picked up some actually unhealthy habits” throughout his time at McLaren. “And little by little, working along with his outdated engineering workforce, he began to search out his kind once more.”
Ricciardo’s starvation got here again. When Nyck de Vries acquired minimize from AlphaTauri, the Australian was tapped because the substitute. Ricciardo later missed 5 races that season after injuring his hand, and Lawson served because the substitute, making a giant impression.
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However on the senior workforce, Sergio Pérez struggled in late 2023. Ricciardo primarily was the Milton Keynes-based workforce’s security internet and publicly desired a return to Crimson Bull. In the course of the 2024 marketing campaign, Ricciardo’s kind lacked consistency. Nevertheless, Pérez’s struggles reemerged, which led to many questioning forward of summer season break whether or not a return to Crimson Bull could be attainable for the Australian.
“I might have cherished to see him use it as a springboard to get again to the place he was, to have accomplished the story. But it surely wasn’t to be,” Crimson Bull workforce principal Christian Horner mentioned on F1 Nation, after information broke of Ricciardo being changed at RB. “Daniel’s trustworthy about that, and he is aware of in his coronary heart he gave it his finest shot. He’s had a fantastic profession, he’s had a fantastic run, however sadly the subsequent chapter wasn’t to be.”
Ricciardo’s profession, throughout its prime, was marked by being the final of the late-brakers — a fearless driver who courted desires of contending for a world championship earlier than they slipped away for varied causes (like Mercedes’ decade-long domination). However a number of of his wins featured passing masterclasses, like in China 2018 when Ricciardo famously mentioned, “Generally you simply need to lick the stamp and ship it.”
However one of the vital iconic victories was possible Monaco 2018 — sure, that photograph. He nursed mechanical points for 50 laps, and even his race engineer was stunned, saying after the Australian crossed the road, “I don’t know the way you probably did that, Daniel.”
His remaining race at Singapore behind him, it’s finish of an period for Ricciardo, not less than on-track.
“He’s a pure entertainer and a showman,” Horner continued, “he will likely be for certain in entrance of the digital camera sooner or later and I’m certain there will likely be a documentary or one thing, that will likely be fascinating.”
“I’m Daniel Ricciardo, and I’m a automotive mechanic.”
His voice is the primary you hear on the pilot episode of ‘Drive to Survive.’ He’s proven as the primary sit-down interview, and he didn’t disappoint, fast to joke on one of many first questions he was requested. With Mercedes and Ferrari not taking part within the first season, Ricciardo stepped into the highlight and have become a part of why the latest wave of followers fell in love with F1.
Ricciardo’s star activate ‘Drive To Survive’ made him an in a single day F1 celebrity. (Peter Fox/Getty Photographs)
In a sport the place the athletes spend most of their time in vehicles with helmets on, Netflix allowed followers to get nearer to the game’s personalities than ever earlier than. Ricciardo introduced the human ingredient from the get-go whereas decked in his Crimson Bull gear throughout Season 1. Because the seasons wore on, a number of moments all through his profession that we recounted grew to become immortalized on Netflix. The Monaco pool stomach flop. Ricciardo’s transfer to Renault. The feelings of the 2021 Italian GP victory with McLaren.
Leaving Crimson Bull for Renault noticed his on-track outcomes dip, however his reputation took off as Ricciardo’s profession unfolded. He grew to become a celebrity of the Netflix docuseries, a present partially credited with F1’s reputation increase. The game and fandom grew alongside him as essential strikes in his profession post-Crimson Bull had been captured intimately on digital camera. When his time at McLaren was coming to an finish in 2022, Netflix put collectively a phase reflecting on his time in F1, exhibiting varied clips from throughout the years.
Earlier than the montage ran within the finale of season 5, a producer mentioned off digital camera, “This is likely to be the final time you’re sat on this chair.” Ricciardo replied, “Yeah,” whereas the producer requested, “Thought of that?”
Ricciardo sighed.
“I imply, the present wouldn’t be the identical with out me, so… what do you do?”
DANIEL RICCIARDO. Ceaselessly our Honey Badger. pic.twitter.com/19Rf0P3yHs
— Netflix (@netflix) September 27, 2024
Fan edits started surfacing on social media after the Singapore GP, with posts on completely different platforms honoring the Australian and paired with songs like ‘Pink Skies’ by Zach Bryan (certainly one of Ricciardo’s favourite music artists). When information broke that Lawson was changing him, loads of present and former drivers, in addition to a number of groups, shared their ideas concerning the Australian driver.
“(Daniel), it’s been a honour to compete with you over time. I’ll always remember the battles, the laughs, and ingesting out of your shoe. It was gross, however glad I acquired to do it with you bud,” Hamilton posted on Instagram. “You permit a legacy of at all times being your self, which on this sport is rarely straightforward. You’ve taken all of it with the largest smile and I salute you for it. There’s a lot extra for you up forward and I can’t wait to see what you do subsequent. At all times right here for you, man.”
However Ricciardo grew to become larger than the game, his reputation extending past the confines of the F1 world. He appeared on podcasts and discuss reveals, gracing the couches of Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert’s reveals. He attended the Met Gala for the primary time in 2023, one thing Hamilton has performed 5 occasions. He created his merchandise line, Enchanté, and launched a wine assortment. Non-F1 official sports activities accounts even weighed in concerning the late driver drop, just like the Vegas Golden Knights and the NFL Australia and New Zealand account with the Buffalo Payments.
The departure shouldn’t be an entire shock, although a swap earlier than the ultimate six races (and three sprints) does elevate eyebrows. Ricciardo’s efficiency lacked consistency, and the thought of a Crimson Bull comeback began having query marks.
It stays to be seen what Ricciardo’s subsequent transfer will likely be. Curiously, the phrase retirement has but for use publicly, however the sentiment appears to be there.
With F1 behind him, Ricciardo has loads of profession choices forward. (Dan Istitene – Method 1/Method 1 by way of Getty Photographs)
“I’m pleased with the profession. I attempted to turn out to be world champion, I attempted to turn out to be the most effective at one thing on the planet,” Ricciardo mentioned in Singapore. “I believe it’s a tall job that we ask from ourselves. Some obtain it, some don’t. Ultimately, if I got here up just a little brief, I can also’t be too exhausting on myself.
“Pleased with the hassle I put in, and for that, there’s no disappointment or feeling or remorse or what might have been.”
It’s pure to wonder if he’ll have a look at different motorsports collection, like NASCAR or Supercars, to call a couple of. Maybe, at some point, he’ll attempt his hand at broadcasting like Jenson Button, Jolyon Palmer or David Coulthard. Given the fan response to his departure, many possible hope the 35-year-old will keep around the globe of F1. Horner does.
“We’ve made it very clear that we would like him to stay in an ambassadorial capability with the workforce, and naturally, one by no means actually is aware of. I imply, if Liam doesn’t get the job performed, if Checo doesn’t get the job performed, we all know what Daniel’s functionality is,” Horner mentioned on F1 Nation. “However I believe for him, he is aware of, on the age that he’s at, he’s had a fantastic profession. So many recollections.
“Essentially the most disgusting factor ever was ingesting champagne out of his sweaty boot! However he made it his personal, and he acquired some unbelievable folks to drink the champagne from his sweaty shoe.”
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Prime photograph: Vince Mignott/MB Media by way of Getty Photographs; Design: Dan Goldfarb/The Athletic