Few drivers in Formula 1 have made people smile quite like Daniel Ricciardo, but in September 2025 RACER, the motorsport news outlet, reported that he confirmed his retirement. Here’s what his career actually looks like now: the records, the exits, the friendships, and what comes next.
F1 Wins: 8 · Podiums: 32 · Championships: 0
Quick snapshot
- Eight Grand Prix wins, 32 podiums, and a career-best third in the championship — but no title (Evening Ledger’s stats profile)
- Last race: 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, before Racing Bulls replaced him (Yahoo Sports, the sports news site)
- Whether retirement rules out a return in another racing category (Evening Ledger’s retirement coverage)
- Exact net worth — estimates range from $30 million to $40 million (Evening Ledger’s career profile)
- Details of his private life, which he keeps largely out of view (Evening Ledger’s profile of his life after racing)
- Career markers: 2011 debut with HRT, seven wins with Red Bull (2014–2018), 2021 Monza victory with McLaren (Evening Ledger’s career timeline)
- September 2024: replaced by Liam Lawson after Singapore (Evening Ledger’s timeline coverage)
- Red Bull’s 2025 plan centered on Liam Lawson, not Ricciardo, per Evening Ledger’s review of the 2025 Red Bull plan
- No full-time F1 seat in the 2025 season (Evening Ledger’s current-status profile)
Nine numbers, one pattern: a driver who was consistently fast, occasionally brilliant, and never quite champion, per Wikipedia, the community-maintained encyclopedia.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Daniel Joseph Ricciardo |
| Date of Birth | July 1, 1989 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| F1 Grands Prix | 257 |
| Wins | 8 |
| Podiums | 32 |
| Pole Positions | 3 |
| First Race | 2011 British Grand Prix |
| Last Race | 2024 Singapore Grand Prix |
Does Daniel Ricciardo have an F1 championship?
No. Ricciardo never won a drivers’ championship; his best finishes were third place in 2014 and 2016, per Evening Ledger’s stats profile. He won races for two teams, but the title fight never quite opened up for him.
How many F1 wins does Daniel Ricciardo have?
- 8 Grand Prix wins
- 32 podiums
- 3 pole positions
- 257 Grand Prix starts
The eight wins came from two teams: seven with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018, one with McLaren at Monza in 2021. Those are the numbers that define a career just short of greatness.
What are his major career achievements?
- Third in the drivers’ championship in 2014 and 2016
- Winner of the 2021 Italian Grand Prix with McLaren
- Seven race wins across five seasons with Red Bull
- Podiums at 32 Grands Prix
Notice what’s missing: a title challenge that lasted beyond a single season. Ricciardo’s best years were as a spoiler — fast enough to steal wins from the championship leaders, never consistent enough to become one.
The implication: Ricciardo didn’t need a trophy to matter. He was the rare driver whose value showed up in the moments, not the standings.
What is Ricciardo doing now?
The clearest answer: he’s not racing in Formula 1. Sporting News, the sports news site confirmed Ricciardo did not hold a full-time race seat during the 2025 campaign. The deeper story is messier — a drawn-out will-he-won’t-he that ended with him confirming retirement.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s role at Red Bull?
- Red Bull reserve driver in 2023, then loaned to AlphaTauri mid-season (Evening Ledger’s career review)
- No confirmed 2025 reserve contract in the available reporting (Evening Ledger’s status update)
In 2023, Ricciardo returned to the Red Bull program as a reserve driver, then took a race seat at the junior squad. The team framed him as a possible 2025 option, but the option expired before the season started.
Is he returning to F1?
In September 2025, RACER reported that Ricciardo confirmed his retirement. For a driver who spent two years waiting for a Red Bull phone call, the announcement was the final word.
Nothing in the available reporting suggests a return. The 2025 grid moved on — Red Bull kept its line-up, and Liam Lawson’s promotion closed the pathway through the junior program that Ricciardo once occupied.
Why this matters: Ricciardo was the sport’s biggest personality without a seat. His retirement doesn’t just empty a cockpit; it removes the most recognizable smile from the paddock.
The pattern: Ricciardo’s comeback bid ended the same way his later seasons did — with open seats going elsewhere.
Why is Daniel Ricciardo out of F1?
Short version: he made a series of team changes that didn’t work out, and his final seasons turned into a performance slump that no amount of charisma could reverse. Each exit explains the next.
When did Ricciardo leave Red Bull?
- Left Red Bull after 2018 for Renault (Evening Ledger’s exit timeline)
- Joined McLaren in 2021 (Evening Ledger’s exit timeline)
- Released by McLaren after the 2022 season (Evening Ledger’s exit timeline)
The Red Bull exit was his own choice: he wanted a new challenge and believed Renault could build a winner. It didn’t. McLaren came next, and after one win at Monza in 2021, the relationship soured quickly.
Why did he leave McLaren?
McLaren released Ricciardo after the 2022 season because the results didn’t justify the investment — one win at Monza in 2021 across two years wasn’t what McLaren paid for (Evening Ledger’s exit profile).
The McLaren exit hurt Ricciardo’s career more than any other move because it broke the pattern: teams stopped seeing him as a front-runner and started seeing him as a risk.
Why didn’t other teams sign him?
- Yuki Tsunoda outscored Ricciardo over the first 10 rounds of the 2024 season, according to Fox Sports Australia’s analysis
- Ricciardo was evaluated as a possible successor to Sergio Perez, but reportedly ended up without a Red Bull-program contract (Evening Ledger’s review of the Red Bull decision)
In September 2024, Racing Bulls replaced Ricciardo with Liam Lawson for the rest of the season, per Evening Ledger’s timeline coverage. The narrow answer to why no other team stepped in: no top team had an open seat.
The wider answer is that his 2024 form made him a hard sell — a driver fighting for midfield points while younger options like Lawson were available. Christian Horner kept Ricciardo in the conversation in Motorsport.com, the F1 news outlet, but the seat went elsewhere.
Ricciardo’s market value came from his personality, but F1 teams spend on race results — and his 2024 record against Tsunoda is what teams actually looked at.
The implication: The 2025 grid was set before Ricciardo’s comeback narrative could force a change.
Is Max Verstappen still friends with Daniel Ricciardo?
Yes — the friendship has outlasted the partnership. Ricciardo and Verstappen shared the Red Bull garage from 2016 to 2018, and the relationship continued publicly after Ricciardo left, as covered in Evening Ledger’s look at his exit and new life.
How did Ricciardo and Verstappen’s relationship change?
- 2016: Verstappen promoted to Red Bull, pairing with Ricciardo (Evening Ledger’s timeline)
- 2016–2018: competitive on-track battles, warm off it (Evening Ledger’s timeline)
- 2019 onward: separated teams, maintained public respect (Evening Ledger’s timeline)
Verstappen has publicly praised Ricciardo’s character during the reserve period, and the two have been seen joking together at race weekends (Evening Ledger’s report).
Do they still spend time together?
Their friendship survived something most F1 rivalries don’t: one driver became a champion while the other’s career faded. That makes the bond rarer — and more visible whenever they share a screen.
The honest answer is that nobody outside their inner circle knows how often they talk. What’s observable is the absence of bad blood — no public digs, no awkward silences, just two drivers who genuinely like each other.
The pattern: Verstappen and Ricciardo were friends before the titles, during the rivalry, and after the split — a rare constant in Ricciardo’s otherwise restless career.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s net worth?
Ricciardo’s finances have been a fan obsession for years, partly because he was one of F1’s bigger earners on personality alone. The estimates paint a clear picture: he made premium money for most of his career.
Is Daniel Ricciardo married?
- Not married (Evening Ledger’s profile)
- Keeps his personal life largely private (Evening Ledger’s profile)
- Originally from Perth, Australia (Evening Ledger’s stats profile)
Ricciardo has never made his personal life a public topic; profiles of him consistently note how little he shares, as covered in Evening Ledger’s profile of his life after racing.
What is his net worth?
Public estimates put Ricciardo’s net worth between $30 million and $40 million, per Evening Ledger’s career profile. Most of that came from race contracts and brand deals rather than championship bonuses.
Exact numbers are impossible to verify because driver contracts aren’t published. What’s consistent across estimates is the range — and the fact that Ricciardo’s earning power outlasted his on-track results.
How old is he?
- Born July 1, 1989, in Perth, Australia (Evening Ledger’s stats profile)
- 35 in his final F1 season (2024) (Evening Ledger’s stats profile)
At 35, he was one of the older drivers on the 2024 grid — young enough to return in theory, but old enough that teams preferred investing in Lawson.
What this means: Ricciardo’s net worth was never the story he cared about — but it explains why he could walk away on his own terms instead of chasing another seat for the money.
Career timeline
Eight moves, one pattern: Ricciardo kept choosing bold fresh starts, and the results kept fading after he left Red Bull — a sequence detailed in Evening Ledger’s career timeline.
| Period | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2011 | F1 debut with HRT at the British Grand Prix |
| 2012–2013 | Races for Toro Rosso |
| 2014–2018 | Red Bull Racing — seven race wins |
| 2019–2020 | Renault F1 Team |
| 2021–2022 | McLaren — one win at Monza 2021 |
| 2023 | Red Bull reserve, then AlphaTauri mid-season |
| 2024 | Racing Bulls — last race in Singapore, replaced by Lawson |
| 2025 | No full-time seat; retirement confirmed in September |
The most recent chapter — a 2025 season without a race seat and the September retirement — is documented in Evening Ledger’s coverage of his current plans.
The pattern: Every time Ricciardo left a team, the results got slightly harder to find. The exceptions — the Red Bull years and Monza 2021 — were the moments that reminded everyone why he was worth watching.
Confirmed facts vs. what’s unclear
Confirmed facts
- 8 F1 race wins and 32 podiums (Evening Ledger’s stats profile)
- Never won a championship; best finish third in 2014 and 2016 (Evening Ledger’s stats profile)
- Last race: 2024 Singapore Grand Prix; retirement confirmed in September 2025 (Evening Ledger’s current-status coverage)
What’s unclear
- Whether retirement means a permanent exit from all racing
- Exact net worth — estimates span $30 million to $40 million
- Details of his personal relationships
- What his post-F1 career will look like
Why this split matters: The confirmed list is long enough to define a great career; the unclear list is exactly what kept the rumor mill alive through 2024 and into 2025.
What the paddock says
“My racing days are behind me.”
— Daniel Ricciardo, confirming his retirement to RACER, the motorsport news outlet
“Daniel is talent held in reserve.”
— Christian Horner, describing Ricciardo to Motorsport.com, the F1 news outlet
The gap between those two lines: one is a goodbye, the other a compliment that fell short of a contract. Together they capture the paradox of Ricciardo’s final years — beloved, respected, and never quite chosen.
What Ricciardo’s exit means
Formula 1 is losing its most recognizable smile — a driver who made fans care about midfield battles and made podiums feel like parties. For Ricciardo, retirement removes the pressure that defined his final years: the constant speculation, the public auditions, the waiting for a phone call that never came. For fans who grew up with the Honey Badger, the choice is simple: follow whatever he does next, or treat the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix as the goodbye the sport never scheduled. Ricciardo leaves that goodbye without a title, but with a fan base no champion could duplicate.
Frequently asked questions
What is a “shoey” and who started it?
A shoey is the post-race tradition of drinking champagne from a racing boot. Ricciardo popularized it in Formula 1 during his Red Bull years, turning it into his signature celebration.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s nickname and why?
He’s called the “Honey Badger” — a nickname built on his fearless, aggressive driving style, a nod to an animal known for not backing down.
How many pole positions does Ricciardo have?
Three, according to Evening Ledger’s stats profile.
Which team did Ricciardo drive for when he won his first race?
Red Bull Racing. His first win came in 2014, his first season with the team (Evening Ledger’s stats profile).
Is Daniel Ricciardo returning to F1 in 2026?
Nothing in the available reporting suggests a comeback. His September 2025 retirement announcement, quoted in this article, leaves no obvious path back to a race seat, and Evening Ledger’s coverage of his current plans lists no return.
Was Ricciardo dropped by McLaren?
Yes. McLaren released him after the 2022 season following two underwhelming years; his single win at Monza 2021 wasn’t enough to offset the inconsistent results, per Evening Ledger’s exit profile.
What is the Honey Badger logo?
The Honey Badger logo is the stylized mascot Daniel Ricciardo uses across his merchandise and social branding, built around his nickname.
Oliver Jack Carter Cooper is a staff writer for EveningLedger.uk, covering UK news, politics, business and culture. He works under Editor-in-Chief Edward Langley and Managing Editor Charlotte Reeves, following the newsroom standards for sourcing, verification and fact-checking set out in our editorial policies.