Daniel Ricciardo: What Happened, Why He Left, What’s Next

What has happened to Daniel Ricciardo?

Ricciardo’s F1 story lasted longer than most casual fans remember and ended sooner than he would have liked. He debuted with HRT in 2011, became a headline act at Red Bull, moved to Renault for two seasons, then to McLaren for two more, and returned to the Red Bull family at AlphaTauri/RB in 2023. PlanetF1’s review of his adjustment period treats that six-team arc as the context for everything that followed.

Career milestones before the exit

• 2011 — Formula 1 debut with HRT (Formula 1).
• 2014 — first Grand Prix win, at the Canadian Grand Prix with Red Bull (Formula 1).
• 2021 — last win, at the Italian Grand Prix with McLaren (Formula 1).

Those milestones explain why the end felt jarring. A driver with eight wins does not usually get swapped out mid-season, let alone one whose smile has sold as many sponsorships as his overtakes. Yet that is exactly what happened at RB in 2024.

The final F1 seasons

The results that made him a Red Bull star in the mid-2010s did not reappear in the AlphaTauri/RB years. The team’s line-up announcement in September 2024 ended his time in the program, and the timing — mid-season, not at a season finale — is what separates his exit from a traditional retirement.

The 2024 driver change at RB

• Announced: September 2024 (Formula 1)
• Replaced by: Liam Lawson
• Effective: for the remaining rounds of the 2024 season

Formula 1’s coverage of the change reported it as a line-up decision, not a retirement. That distinction matters for anyone asking what happened to Daniel Ricciardo: he was replaced, and only after the fact did the word retirement enter the conversation.

The pattern: a career that ended at a team announcement, not at a finish line. That’s the detail that makes his exit look like a decision made for him, not by him.

Why has Daniel Ricciardo left F1?

The RB driver change

Timing: September 2024 · Team: RB · Successor: Liam Lawson

The team announced his departure during the 2024 season rather than after the final race. That timing makes the decision a performance call about the present and a planning call about the future: RB wanted its next driver evaluated before the season ended.

Liam Lawson’s promotion

• Lawson was confirmed as Ricciardo’s replacement for the remaining rounds (Formula 1).
• The move gave RB a direct look at its next option before 2025 decisions were finalized.

<>Public statements did not detail an internal team reason beyond the driver line-up change. What was visible was the direction: when a team swaps an experienced name for a younger one with races still to run, it is choosing its road map over its history.

Ricciardo’s response

• He called the next phase his “next adventure” (GPFans).
• He thanked teams, individuals, and fans in the moments after the announcement.

The tone was classic Ricciardo — gracious, upbeat, and free of bitterness. That response, more than the team’s statement, shaped how the exit was received.

The implication: RB’s decision was about 2025 before it was about 2024, and Ricciardo was the experienced name standing in the way of that plan.

Is Daniel Ricciardo retiring from F1?

What Ricciardo said after Singapore

After Singapore, Ricciardo called the race his final one and has since described the period as retirement from Formula 1 and motor racing.

No 2025 F1 seat

• No 2025 Formula 1 line-up includes his name.
• His current motorsport ties are ambassadorial rather than competitive.

PlanetF1’s assessment of his post-F1 adjustment noted that his Ford role keeps him connected to motorsport and the automotive industry without the pressure of competing in Formula 1. Motorsport.com, meanwhile, reported him saying life away from F1 allowed him to slow down and feel more present in everyday life.

Possible roles outside racing

• The Athletic reported that he spent part of his post-F1 adjustment working on his family’s farm.
• The same work reportedly included repairing cattle water troughs and operating a roller or water truck.
• He has described reconnecting with family and old friends as part of a new routine.

None of this is the language of a driver plotting a comeback. It is the language of someone testing what a normal calendar feels like.

What this means: retirement is a label he has accepted, but it describes F1 and motor racing, not visibility, business, or public life.

What is Daniel Ricciardo doing now?

Ford Racing ambassador

Role: Global ambassador · Focus: Ford Racing · Recent work: Raptor T1+ promotions

Ricciardo’s Ford Racing ambassadorship is the most visible piece of his post-F1 life. His involvement has already included promotional activity around the Raptor T1+ off-road vehicle. The role replaces a race seat with something more flexible: a connection to motorsport and the automotive industry without the travel, risk, and pressure of a full F1 calendar.

Enchante and business ventures

• Enchante is his lifestyle brand and continues to release collections.
• The Athletic documented the brand’s ongoing activity and its offices in New York City.
• He also launched a Tailgate business with Dabble.

The business turn is not a side project anymore; it is the main act. A driver who once made headlines for late braking now makes them for brand launches, and the shift is working because his name still carries the same warmth it did in the paddock.

Training and media appearances

• He has kept up training with Blessed MMA and EA Sports UFC.
• He has stayed active in media and promotional appearances tied to his brand work.

Even outside a race seat, Ricciardo stays in fighting shape — literally. The MMA-style training reads as preparation for a different kind of second act, one built on personality, endurance, and controlled risk rather than a steering wheel.

The trade-off: a slower calendar costs him a race seat but buys him something the paddock rarely offers — time.

Are Verstappen and Ricciardo still friends?

Red Bull teammate years

• Ricciardo and Verstappen were Red Bull teammates from 2016 to 2018 (GPFans).
• The pairing produced on-track fights and off-track chemistry that made Red Bull’s line-up one of the most talked about in the sport.

Their friendship outlived the competitive tension that ends most teammate relationships.

Public support after Ricciardo’s exit

• Both drivers have continued to speak positively about each other in public.
• No public falling-out has been reported.

Ricciardo has remained supportive of Verstappen’s success, including through the championship years that followed their time together.

What Verstappen has said

• Verstappen has continued to speak positively about Ricciardo in public.
• His comments after the exit have kept the door open rather than closing it.

Verstappen has not needed a long statement to make his position clear. The public record shows consistent respect between the two, and that consistency is the actual news: in a paddock where friendships often expire with contracts, the Verstappen–Ricciardo relationship has kept its shelf life.

Why this matters: when teams talk about pairing drivers, they point to this pair as the rare example where rivalry didn’t turn into resentment.

Timeline: from Perth to the present

The milestones trace a familiar driver arc — debut, first win, team changes, a comeback, an exit — but the final entries carry the real story.

• 1 July 1989 — born in Perth, Australia.
• 2011 — Formula 1 debut with HRT (Formula 1).
• 2014 — first Grand Prix win, Canadian Grand Prix with Red Bull.
• 2016–2018 — Red Bull teammate of Max Verstappen.
• 2019–2020 — Renault seasons.
• 2021–2022 — McLaren seasons, including the 2021 Italian Grand Prix win.
• 2023 — return to the Red Bull family at AlphaTauri/RB.
• 2024 — left the RB race seat after the Singapore Grand Prix (Formula 1).
• After F1 — Ford Racing ambassador, Enchante founder, Tailgate business with Dabble.

The last line is the one that matters. Most of the timeline is about speed; the final entry is about direction.

What’s confirmed and what’s still unclear

Separating the two is the difference between following the story and misreading it.

Confirmed facts

• Ricciardo’s F1 career ended after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix (Formula 1).
• RB replaced him with Liam Lawson for the final rounds of 2024 (Formula 1).
• He is a Ford Racing ambassador and continues to run Enchante (Formula 1; The Athletic).

What’s unclear

• The full internal reasoning behind RB’s driver change.
• Whether he will return to F1 or race in another category.
• Whether Enchante’s expansion signals a permanent business pivot or a holding pattern.
• Exact financial details such as net worth.

What Ricciardo and RB said in the decisive weeks

I loved Formula 1 throughout my life and would not change the overall journey.

— Daniel Ricciardo, speaking after his final F1 race, via GPFans

Ricciardo will leave the team, with Liam Lawson taking his place for the remainder of the 2024 season.

— Racing Bulls’ line-up announcement, as reported by Formula 1

One quote closes a career; the other explains the mechanics of it. Together, they show an exit that was professional on both sides.

What the exit really changed

Ricciardo’s F1 exit is not a disappearance — it is a redistribution of energy. The same driver who used to sell overtakes now sells a lifestyle brand, a Ford partnership, and the idea that leaving the grid can be a launchpad rather than a landing. For fans, the choice is straightforward: follow him into Enchante’s collections and Ford’s off-road world, or wait for a return that he himself has framed as retirement. For brands, the implication is just as clear — Ricciardo is available, but on his terms, and that is exactly what makes him valuable.

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