Ask a Formula 1 fan what they remember about Daniel Ricciardo and the answer usually starts with the grin. Honda Global’s driver profile sets out his route from HRT to Red Bull, but his 2024 exit is described differently by the team and by him, so this piece separates the settled record from what he has said himself.
Born: 1 July 1989, Perth, Australia · Grand Prix wins: 8 · F1 seasons on the grid: 2011–2024 (14 seasons) · Last season on the grid: 2024 · Drivers’ championship titles: 0
Quick snapshot
- Eight Grand Prix wins from 257 starts (Formula 1 official news)
- Final race at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, after which Liam Lawson took over (Formula 1 official news) (Formula 1 official news)
- Reasons beyond the team decision, which he frames as something he is grateful for (GrandPrix247 motorsport news)
- Activity in 2026 beyond a single interview (PlanetF1 motorsport news)
- First Grand Prix win on at the Canadian Grand Prix, according to Wikipedia’s career entry
- Last Grand Prix win on at Monza with McLaren (News.com.au Australian news)
- Global Ambassador for Ford Racing, after confirming his retirement from motorsport (The Independent UK newspaper)
- Post-F1 podcast coverage on life after the grid (Speedcafe Australian motorsport site)
The table below holds the career figures that have a dated or official record behind them.
Twelve rows, one pattern: the numbers are settled while the reasons behind the exit are not, and the table keeps those two things apart, as Honda Global’s driver profile reflects in its career summary.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 1 July 1989 |
| Birthplace | Perth, Australia |
| F1 debut | 2011, British Grand Prix with HRT |
| Grand Prix wins | 8 |
| F1 race starts | 257 |
| First Grand Prix win | , Canadian Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix win | , Italian Grand Prix (McLaren) |
| Podiums | 32 |
| Pole positions | 3 |
| Final F1 race | , Singapore Grand Prix |
| Drivers’ championship titles | 0 |
Why did Daniel Ricciardo leave F1?
Ricciardo’s F1 career ended after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, when Racing Bulls gave the rest of the season to Liam Lawson (Formula 1 official news).
The sourced core of the exit is a team decision. Anything about his motives comes from what he has said in public.
What did Daniel Ricciardo say about his exit in 2025?
- He described feeling “humiliation” and “pain and sadness” in the months after the exit, and said he hid those feelings in public (The Independent UK newspaper).
- He said he is grateful the teams pulled the trigger, because he would not want to be racing now (GrandPrix247 motorsport news).
- Australian coverage, where he was born in Perth, framed the exit as humiliation and relief (PerthNow Perth regional news).
The implication: The exit is a team-made decision that Ricciardo now describes with relief, so any motive beyond that should be read as his own account, not a confirmed reason.
Teams made the call, which leaves the “why” mostly in his hands. Treat each stated reason as attributed, not established.
What this means: the reasons Ricciardo gives are his to state, while the team’s decision is the part the record can confirm.
When did Daniel Ricciardo win his first Grand Prix?
His first win came at the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix on , after he passed Nico Rosberg in the closing laps (The Athletic NYT sports desk).
How many Grand Prix wins did he finish with?
- Eight wins in total: seven with Red Bull and one with McLaren, from 257 starts (Formula 1 official news).
- F1.com ranks his 2018 Monaco Grand Prix win as his top victory (Formula 1 official news).
The implication: The win count is fixed, and the peak years sit with Red Bull from 2014 to 2018, which The Athletic describes as the core of his career arc (The Athletic NYT sports desk).
Has Daniel Ricciardo won an F1 championship?
No. According to Wikipedia’s career entry, he holds no drivers’ championship title, and his record rests on individual race wins.
What was his 2022 season with McLaren?
- He signed with McLaren for 2021 and raced for the team in 2022, according to Wikipedia’s career entry.
- He struggled to match teammate Lando Norris’s pace, a gap that led to his release after 2022 (Racing News 365 motorsport news).
- McLaren replaced him with Oscar Piastri (Formula 1 official news).
The implication: The championship question has a clear answer, and the McLaren chapter that followed his last win ended with a release, not a title push.
Eight wins without a title leave his legacy to individual races and his Red Bull years, not to a championship finish.
The pattern: his standing rests on race wins, since no title backs up the career arc.
Where is Daniel Ricciardo now?
In September 2024 Ricciardo said he was “enjoying some life in the slow lane” and had not raced since Singapore 2024, while backing youth karting through the Daniel Ricciardo Series in the UK (Formula 1 official news).
What is Daniel Ricciardo doing in 2026?
- A 2026 interview quoted him saying that returning to racing “terrifies” him (PlanetF1 motorsport news).
- A 2026 podcast appearance covered his exit and his life after the grid (Speedcafe Australian motorsport site).
- No dated Tier 1 source in the research confirms a specific 2026 job or event.
The implication: His current status sits between retirement and talk of a possible return, so treat 2026 activity as unconfirmed until a dated primary source adds it.
The retirement is confirmed, but a 2026 interview quoted him calling a return to racing terrifying. Read those two facts together, not as a settled story.
What this means: until a dated primary source adds 2026 detail, the current picture stays partly open even though the retirement is settled.
Is Daniel Ricciardo done with F1?
On the sourced record, he is done with racing. He confirmed his retirement from all forms of motorsport while remaining a Global Ambassador for Ford Racing (The Independent UK newspaper).
Do Verstappen and Ricciardo get along?
- The research for this article contains no sourced statement about his relationship with Max Verstappen.
- Any answer needs a named, dated statement from a Tier 1 or Tier 2 outlet before it counts as fact.
- He has acknowledged in a 2026 podcast that he had considered quitting before, including after Monaco 2022 and Silverstone 2015 (GrandPrix247 motorsport news).
The implication: The retirement is confirmed, while the Verstappen question stays open because no sourced evidence settles it yet.
Career timeline
Five dated milestones run from his 2011 debut to the 2025 update, and the gap between that update and the 2026 interview is where most open questions sit.
- : F1 debut with HRT (Honda Global driver profile)
- : first Grand Prix win at the Canadian Grand Prix, according to Wikipedia’s career entry
- : last Grand Prix win at Monza with McLaren (News.com.au Australian news)
- : final race at the Singapore Grand Prix, where he set the fastest lap, and Liam Lawson replaced him (Formula 1 official news)
- : post-F1 update on life in the slow lane (Formula 1 official news)
The implication: The sourced timeline stops at a 2025 update and a 2026 interview, so the next dated statement will decide how far the story runs.
Confirmed facts and open questions
Confirmed
- Eight Grand Prix wins from 257 starts (Formula 1 official news)
- Replaced by Liam Lawson after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix (Formula 1 official news)
- Global Ambassador for Ford Racing (The Independent UK newspaper)
- No drivers’ championship title (Wikipedia career entry)
Open
- Personal reasons for leaving beyond what he has said publicly
- Any 2026 activity beyond one interview and one podcast
- His 2026 comment that a return to racing “terrifies” him (PlanetF1 motorsport news)
- Relationship with Max Verstappen, with no sourced statement in the research
- Relationship status, which sits outside the sourced record
The catch: The open list is longer than the confirmed list, so any claim about his reasons or relationships needs a named source before it carries weight.
In their own words
“It’s then a sense of humiliation, like I failed and I didn’t do what I once could.”
Daniel Ricciardo, as quoted by The Independent UK newspaper
“I would have loved to see him use it as a springboard to get back to where he was, to have completed the story. But it wasn’t to be.”
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal, as reported by The Athletic NYT sports desk
“I still don’t like how it ended, but there’s also a part of me which is grateful that they pulled the trigger because I wouldn’t want to be doing it now.”
Daniel Ricciardo, as quoted by GrandPrix247 motorsport news
What this means: Ricciardo speaks about feeling and relief, while Red Bull’s principal speaks about what a fuller ending could have looked like, and the two accounts rarely describe the same moment.
Related reading:
The sourced record answers the results questions cleanly and leaves the reasons open. Readers should treat Ricciardo’s retirement and his Ford role as confirmed, and leave his motives and his Verstappen relationship open until a dated statement from a named source settles them.
formula1.com, grandepremio.com, formula1.com, racingnews365.com
Frequently asked questions
When and where was Daniel Ricciardo born?
He was born on 1 July 1989 in Perth, Australia, according to Wikipedia’s career entry.
What nationality is Daniel Ricciardo?
He is Australian, and Perth-born, as PerthNow Perth regional news reports.
How many seasons did Daniel Ricciardo race in F1?
He raced from 2011 to 2024, a span of 14 seasons, and his grid career ended after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix (Formula 1 official news).
Which team did Daniel Ricciardo drive for in 2022?
He drove for McLaren in 2022, according to Wikipedia’s career entry.
Where can official Daniel Ricciardo race results be checked?
Start with the official Formula 1 news pages, which carry the dated career reports cited in this article (Formula 1 official news).
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.