Few Formula 1 drivers have made losing look as likeable as Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian grin and the post-race “shoey” often overshadowed the serious numbers underneath: eight Grand Prix wins, 30 podiums, and two third-place championship finishes (ESPN’s F1 statistics). This is the full arc — Red Bull’s breakout star, the Renault reset, the McLaren struggle, and the late comeback attempt — with the verified record separated from the rumor mill.
F1 wins: 8 · Pole positions: 3 · Last podium: 2021 Italian Grand Prix · Age: 35 (born July 1, 1989)
Quick snapshot
- Eight Grand Prix wins — seven at Red Bull, one at McLaren (ESPN’s F1 statistics)
- Last win and last podium: the 2021 Italian Grand Prix (CNN’s September 2024 profile)
- Best championship finishes: third in 2014 and 2016 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- Whether he ever returns to a full-time F1 seat (Evening Ledger’s 2025 status guide)
- His exact net worth — estimates vary, no official figure (Evening Ledger’s 2025 status guide)
- 2026 plans — no team, no contract, no announcement (Evening Ledger’s 2025 status guide)
- 2011: F1 debut with HRT at the British Grand Prix (CNN’s career profile)
- 2014-2018: Red Bull years — the prime era (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- After Red Bull: one win in six seasons, Monza 2021 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- 2025: reserve driver at Red Bull, no full-time seat (Evening Ledger’s 2025 status guide)
- 2026: no announced team or contract (Evening Ledger’s 2025 status guide)
- Return depends on a race seat opening up (Evening Ledger’s 2025 status guide)
Eight rows capture a 14-year career, and the surprise is how thin the trophy case looks next to the fame — figures cross-checked against ESPN’s driver database and Encyclopaedia Britannica.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Joseph Ricciardo |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Date of birth | July 1, 1989 |
| F1 debut | 2011 British Grand Prix (HRT) |
| F1 wins | 8 |
| Podiums | 30 |
| Pole positions | 3 |
| Current team (2025 status) | Reserve driver for Red Bull (early 2025) |
When was Daniel Ricciardo’s last podium?
Italian Grand Prix 2021 details
- Race: 2021 Italian Grand Prix, Monza
- Result: win — his eighth F1 victory
- Team: McLaren
Ricciardo’s last podium is also his last win: the 2021 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where he drove a composed race for McLaren (CNN’s September 2024 profile). The result ended a long drought during his difficult McLaren run and briefly silenced the doubts about the move from Renault.
The Monza triumph was a genuine high point — a late-braking, race-leading performance that echoed his Red Bull prime.
Ricciardo’s Monza victory and podium drought since
- September 2021 — date of his last podium
- 2022-2024 — no podium finishes across McLaren, AlphaTauri, and RB
- Monza remains the outlier of his late career
He has not stood on a podium since September 2021 (CNN’s Ricciardo profile). Across two more seasons at McLaren and two with the Red Bull family, the top three never came again.
The pattern: Monza was a peak, not a reset. It proved the old speed existed on a good weekend — and made the silence since September 2021 harder to explain.
What happened to Daniel Ricciardo?
Departure from McLaren after 2022
- McLaren years: 2021-2022
- Exit: left after the 2022 season
- Reason: results fell short of expectations
McLaren signed Ricciardo to pair with Lando Norris, expecting experience and race craft to push the team forward. The 2021 Monza win delivered the headline; the rest of the partnership didn’t (Formula One History). He left after the 2022 season, a disappointing end for a driver who arrived as a proven winner.
2023 season with AlphaTauri
- 2023: began as a reserve within Red Bull’s program
- Mid-season: returned to racing with AlphaTauri
- 2024: final F1 season with RB (formerly AlphaTauri)
Ricciardo’s route back ran through the Red Bull family. What started as a reserve role became a mid-season AlphaTauri seat, and he stayed with the renamed RB team through 2024 (Encyclopaedia Britannica). The numbers, though, never recovered: no wins, no podiums, and only occasional points finishes.
Current status and future
- 2025: reserve driver at Red Bull
- No full-time race seat on the 2025 grid
- 2026: no announced plans
As of early 2025, Ricciardo is a reserve driver for Red Bull — present at races, active in the simulator, but not on the grid (Evening Ledger’s 2025 Ricciardo status guide). The role keeps the door open, but F1’s driver market rarely waits for sentiment.
The trade-off: a reserve role keeps him in the paddock but out of the cockpit, and every week that passes makes a 2026 return harder to negotiate.
How good of a driver was Daniel Ricciardo?
Wins and performances at Red Bull
- 2014: promoted to Red Bull, won his first race in Canada
- 2016: took his first pole position, at Monaco
- 2016-2018: held his own as Red Bull’s senior race winner
After a Red Bull test and reserve role, Ricciardo spent two seasons at Toro Rosso, then joined Red Bull for 2014 and won his first race at the Canadian Grand Prix that year (McLaren Racing’s heritage archive). His first pole position came at the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix (McLaren Racing’s heritage archive). These were prime years: aggressive overtaking, tidy tire management, and a public persona that made even a mechanical retirement look like a party.
The Red Bull era also established a pattern — when the car suited him, he was among the best on the grid; when it didn’t, the results faded fast.
His 2014 season — three wins and a third-place finish — remains the high-water mark of his career; no later season matched it (ESPN’s F1 statistics).
That first season was the statement. The rest of the Red Bull years added wins and podiums, but never another season with three victories.
Championship finishes and reliability
- 2014: third in the championship, 238 points
- 2016: third again, 256 points
- 2019: ninth with Renault; 2020: fifth with Renault
His two best championship seasons both ended in third place — 238 points in 2014 and 256 points in 2016 (ESPN’s F1 statistics). At Renault, the rebound was real: ninth (54 points) in 2019, then fifth (119 points) in 2020, a season that included podiums at the Nürburgring and Imola (Formula One History).
Comparison to teammates Verstappen and Norris
- Red Bull years: shared the garage with Max Verstappen
- McLaren years: partnered Lando Norris
- Direction of travel: from Red Bull’s senior driver to McLaren’s struggling veteran
The teammate comparison is the cruelest measure. Against Verstappen, Ricciardo was close enough to be treated as a genuine rival; against Norris, the results never matched the reputation. His form declined after leaving Red Bull (Formula One History).
That decline frames the whole debate about how good he really was. His peak, his personality, and his signature moments were never in question; the consistency after 2018 was. What this means: Ricciardo’s ceiling was championship-adjacent, but his floor was lower than a driver of that ceiling should ever allow.
Why did Red Bull get rid of Daniel Ricciardo?
Team decision to promote Verstappen
- Red Bull built its future around Max Verstappen
- Two alpha drivers, one team — a brittle balance
- The 2018 decision: pick the younger driver
The split wasn’t a sacking so much as a choice of a lane. Red Bull bet on Max Verstappen; Ricciardo, who had delivered seven wins for the team since joining in 2014, no longer saw himself as the priority. He left after the 2018 season and joined Renault for 2019 (Formula One History).
Contract disputes and performance clauses
- Ricciardo felt underappreciated
- Sought a new challenge rather than a contract extension
The public story was about new challenges; the private story was about value. Ricciardo concluded that Red Bull would always be Verstappen’s team, and no contract clause would change the pecking order.
Ricciardo’s choice to leave
- Signed with Renault for 2019
- Traded a race-winning car for a works project
- The bet: become a team’s centerpiece instead of a teammate
Renault offered top billing, a factory contract, and the rare chance to be the center of a project. In hindsight, the move didn’t deliver results — but it was a rational decision for a driver who wanted to feel valued.
The implication: Red Bull didn’t get rid of Ricciardo so much as decline to chase him. The result left both sides with a story to regret — Red Bull lost an enormously popular race-winner, and Ricciardo lost the best car he would ever have.
How many F1 races has Daniel Ricciardo won?
List of all 8 race wins
- 7 wins with Red Bull (2014-2018)
- 1 win with McLaren: the 2021 Italian Grand Prix
- 0 wins with Renault, AlphaTauri, or RB
The tally is eight Grand Prix wins. Seven came with Red Bull — including three in 2014 (Canada, Hungary, Belgium), Azerbaijan in 2017, and China and Monaco in 2018 — and the eighth was the 2021 Italian Grand Prix with McLaren (McLaren Racing’s heritage archive).
Win statistics and percentage
Eight wins in 14 seasons is a highlights-reel score, not a consistency score. The drivers who dominated his era collected victories at several times that rate — which is why Ricciardo’s fame always outpaced his statistics.
His 30 podiums and three pole positions tell the same story: strong in bursts, never dominant across a full season. The numbers make him a memorable race-winner, not a statistical heavyweight.
Comparison to other Australian drivers
- Australian F1 Grand Prix winners: a short list
- Ricciardo’s 8 wins sit near the top of it
Eight wins is a modest total by champion standards, but Australian F1 history is thin enough that Ricciardo’s name sits comfortably near the top of it. The numbers back the fame, even if they don’t match the sport’s greats.
Why this matters: the win count looks small next to Hamilton, Vettel, and Verstappen — but compared with every other Australian in F1 history, it is exceptional.
Has Daniel Ricciardo won a Formula 1 Championship?
Championship record: 0 titles
- Formula 1 World Championships: 0
- Best championship finishes: 3rd (2014, 2016)
Ricciardo has never won a Formula 1 World Championship (Encyclopaedia Britannica). He finished third twice, but in both seasons the title fight was contested above him by Mercedes’ two drivers.
Closest finish: 3rd in 2014 and 2016
- 238 points in 2014
- 256 points in 2016
Those two third-place finishes were his career ceiling in the championship standings. In each case the gap to the champion was substantial; Ricciardo was effectively racing for best of the rest.
Championship win chances throughout career
Ricciardo was never in a title fight entering the final round. His 8 wins and 30 podiums were race-winning numbers, not championship numbers (ESPN’s F1 statistics) — and the car he needed for a title campaign never arrived during his best seasons.
Timing worked against him. During his Red Bull peak, Mercedes was dominant; by the time Red Bull built a title-winning car again in the 2020s, Ricciardo was no longer in the seat.
The pattern: Ricciardo collected moments, not title fights. For a driver with his talent, that is the difference between a fan favorite and a champion.
Ricciardo’s team-by-team record: numbers by era
Four teams, four different trajectories — two eras where he was the star, two where he played a supporting role.
| Team | Years | Wins | Peak season | Defining result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Bull | 2014-2018 | 7 | 3rd (2014, 2016) | First win, 2014 Canadian GP |
| Renault | 2019-2020 | 0 | 5th (2020) | Podiums at Nürburgring and Imola, 2020 |
| McLaren | 2021-2022 | 1 | Win at Monza (2021) | 2021 Italian GP victory |
| AlphaTauri / RB | 2023-2024 | 0 | Mid-season return (2023) | No podiums, no wins |
The pattern is stark: seven of his eight wins happened before 2019. Red Bull made his reputation; everything after was a long, diminishing coda — the memories stayed vivid while the results faded.
Daniel Ricciardo’s career timeline
Nine entries trace the full loop: debut, stardom, decline, and a paddock lap as a reserve.
| Period | Event |
|---|---|
| 2011 | F1 debut with HRT at the British Grand Prix (CNN profile) |
| 2012-2013 | Toro Rosso race seat after a Red Bull reserve role (McLaren Racing’s heritage archive) |
| 2014-2018 | Red Bull Racing — seven wins, two third-place championship finishes (Encyclopaedia Britannica) |
| 2018 | Final year at Red Bull; left at the end of the season (Formula One History) |
| 2019-2020 | Renault — two podiums, fifth in 2020 (McLaren Racing’s heritage archive) |
| 2021-2022 | McLaren — win at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix (McLaren Racing’s heritage archive) |
| 2023 | Reserve role, then AlphaTauri from mid-season (Encyclopaedia Britannica) |
| 2024 | RB (formerly AlphaTauri) — final full F1 season (Encyclopaedia Britannica) |
| 2025 | Red Bull reserve driver, no full-time seat (Evening Ledger’s 2025 status guide) |
The pattern: read top to bottom, the timeline shows a career that accelerated fast and stalled slowly — most of the trophy haul came before 2019, and the Monza win in 2021 was a final echo. The comeback remains an idea, not a trend.
What’s confirmed and what’s still unclear
Confirmed facts
- Eight F1 wins — seven at Red Bull, one at McLaren (ESPN’s statistics)
- Last podium: 2021 Italian Grand Prix (CNN’s Ricciardo profile)
- Never won the World Championship (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
What’s unclear
- Whether he ever returns to a full-time F1 seat
- Exact net worth — estimates vary widely, no official number
- 2026 plans — no team, no contract, no announcement
What this means: the confirmed column is short and stubborn, and the unclear column is exactly where his career now lives. The facts that defined him are sealed; the facts that would define the next chapter are not.
Ricciardo, Horner, and Norris in their own words
The Ricciardo story is full of people talking about exits, resets, and comebacks. The three positions below are condensed from the documented record — not verbatim transcripts, but the arguments each side actually made.
Red Bull built its future around Max Verstappen. From the team’s perspective, Ricciardo was the driver who had to adapt — and when he chose otherwise, the split was his.
— Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal, on the 2018 decision
I wanted to be valued. Renault offered top billing and a new project; Red Bull was always going to be about the other driver.
— Daniel Ricciardo, on leaving Red Bull
As a teammate, Ricciardo brought speed and an energy that lifted the whole garage. The McLaren results never matched the effort — but nobody doubted the effort.
— Lando Norris, McLaren teammate in 2021-2022
Why this matters: the three voices explain the arc better than any statistic — the team rationalized, the driver rebelled, and the teammate saw the human cost of the decline.
Ricciardo’s career is a story about timing as much as talent. He won when the machinery allowed it, charmed audiences when it didn’t, and never got the one season that turns a beloved driver into a champion. For Daniel Ricciardo, the calculation is now simple: land a competitive seat for 2026 — or accept that his final F1 statement was already written at Monza in September 2021.
Frequently asked questions
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s age?
Ricciardo was born on July 1, 1989, in Perth, Australia, which makes him 35 as of early 2025.
How tall is Daniel Ricciardo?
Career profiles list him at 1.78 meters (5 feet 10 inches) (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
Who is Daniel Ricciardo’s wife?
Ricciardo is not married, as of early 2025. He keeps his private life out of the public eye.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s net worth?
There is no official figure. Public estimates vary widely depending on the tracker, and Ricciardo has never confirmed a number.
When did Daniel Ricciardo start his F1 career?
He debuted at the 2011 British Grand Prix with HRT, raced for Toro Rosso in 2012-2013, and joined Red Bull in 2014 (Formula One History).
Is Daniel Ricciardo retiring?
Not officially. He moved into a reserve role at Red Bull for 2025, which keeps a race seat possible without guaranteeing one (Evening Ledger’s 2025 status guide).
What team is Daniel Ricciardo driving for in 2025?
Red Bull — as reserve driver. He does not have a full-time race seat on the 2025 grid (Evening Ledger’s 2025 status guide).
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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.