Few drivers packed as much joy into Formula 1 as Daniel Ricciardo — eight Grand Prix wins, 32 podiums, and a grin that made him the paddock’s most likeable figure — yet in September 2024 RB confirmed he would leave with six races still to run. This is the story of that exit, the quieter life he is building now, and the questions about his future that remain genuinely open.
Grand Prix wins: 8 ·
Podiums: 32 ·
F1 starts: 257 ·
Born: 1 July 1989 ·
Nickname: The Honey Badger
Quick snapshot
- Ricciardo finished his F1 career with 257 starts, eight victories, three pole positions and 32 podiums (Formula1.com — official F1 website)
- His Enchanté clothing brand and DR3 Wines remain active ventures (Motorsport.com — motorsport news outlet)
- Whether he will ever race in F1 again — no confirmation either way
- Relationship status beyond 2025; no partner confirmed for 2026
- Exact net worth — the $30 million figure is an estimate, not a filing
- ADHD speculation online has never been publicly confirmed
- Sept 2024: RB confirms exit; Liam Lawson takes the seat immediately (GPFans — F1 news outlet)
- 2025: the Daniel Ricciardo Series karting competition keeps him trackside (Speedcafe — Australian motorsport outlet)
- Brand work and wine projects fill the calendar (Motorsport.com)
- Grassroots karting through the Daniel Ricciardo Series (Speedcafe)
- No public plan to race in another series so far
Nine career signposts, one pattern: eight wins, 32 podiums and 257 starts across six teams — a career of peaks that never quite produced the title the talent promised.
| Label | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Joseph Ricciardo |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 1 July 1989 |
| F1 debut | 2011 British Grand Prix |
| Last F1 race | 2024 Singapore Grand Prix |
| Teams | HRT, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Renault, McLaren, AlphaTauri/RB |
| Wins | 8 |
| Podiums | 32 |
| Starts | 257 |
What has happened to Daniel Ricciardo?
The short version is blunt: Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career ended at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. RB, the team that evolved from AlphaTauri, confirmed he would leave with six races remaining, and Liam Lawson took his seat with immediate effect for the rest of the season (GPFans — F1 news outlet). For a driver who had spent a decade at the front of the grid, the ending arrived without a farewell lap.
The 2024 exit
- RB made the call with six races left — the team statement framed it as a driver-market decision.
- Liam Lawson was promoted with immediate effect, skipping any farewell season.
- Ricciardo’s final totals: 257 starts, eight wins, three pole positions and 32 podiums.
The lack of a proper send-off still stings for fans: an Australian icon pushed aside quietly, without the farewell tour the sport usually stages. But the statement was unambiguous — Ricciardo was out, and the team was looking forward, not back.
Is Daniel Ricciardo retiring from F1?
- No formal retirement announcement has been made.
- He has not ruled out racing again, in F1 or elsewhere.
- His 2025 calendar is built around brands, karting and appearances, not a race seat.
Ricciardo has described the year since the exit as a period of deliberate self-exploration rather than a goodbye to motorsport. The distinction matters: retirement is a decision a driver makes; this was a decision made for him.
The pattern: the exit was not a retirement announcement, but a team decision — and Ricciardo has been careful never to frame it as his goodbye to racing.
Why did Daniel Ricciardo leave F1?
Formula1.com’s analysis of the end of his career traced the same arc fans lived through in real time: a driver who left Red Bull in 2018, struggled to recapture that level at Renault and McLaren, and found the sport’s junior pipeline closing behind him (Formula1.com — the sport’s official analysis). The headline asked the question every fan did: how did it come to this?
Performance decline
- Left Red Bull for Renault in 2019, then moved to McLaren for 2021.
- Wins and podiums became rare after the Red Bull years.
- Returned to Red Bull as reserve driver in 2023, then stepped into AlphaTauri mid-season.
The consistency that defined his Red Bull seasons never fully returned at Renault or McLaren. The machinery suited him less, the results followed, and confidence in a sport measured in tenths of a second is a fragile asset.
By the time he returned to the Red Bull family in 2023, his task was to prove he still deserved a seat — not to build a legacy.
Competition from younger drivers
- Liam Lawson was waiting in Red Bull’s junior programme with a string of substitute appearances.
- Ricciardo himself had replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri in 2023 — the same brutal logic applied to him.
- The 2025 grid filled up without him.
That last point is the one that stings. F1’s junior teams exist to promote talent, and a driver in his mid-30s with an expiring contract is the most vulnerable species on the grid.
For RB, the Ricciardo call was a numbers decision before it was a personal one: a young driver with six races to prove himself is cheaper and more valuable than a veteran whose results have flatlined.
For a fuller look at the team politics and business mechanics behind the seat change, see Ricciardo’s F1 exit and business ventures.
What is Danny Ricciardo doing now?
His 2025 calendar looks less like retirement and more like a rebrand: two companies, a karting series, and a public presence that no longer depends on a Friday practice session.
Business ventures
- Enchanté, his clothing brand, continues as his main commercial project (Motorsport.com — motorsport news outlet)
- DR3 Wines, the wine label tied to his name, remains part of the same portfolio.
- The Daniel Ricciardo Series gives him a grassroots karting platform (Speedcafe — Australian motorsport outlet)
The thread connecting all three ventures is control: unlike an F1 driver contract, these are assets Ricciardo owns. The brand portfolio is real, but the more interesting update is personal — his own words about slowing down appear in the quotes below.
Ambassador roles
- Ray White’s Connect conference on Australia’s Gold Coast, August 2025 — his first major public appearance since the exit (Ray White Commercial — event host)
- More than 3,000 attendees heard him interviewed by sports presenter Mel McLaughlin.
- The keynote circuit has become the new weekend schedule.
The conference stage is a natural fit: fewer cameras than an F1 paddock, longer conversations, and no one timing his every move.
Personal interests
- Hiking, including a trip to Alaska, replaced the travel grind of a race season (Ray White Commercial)
- He has described the slower pace as an intentional reset.
The move from a high-speed lifestyle toward stillness was deliberate, he told the same interviewer — a rare admission from a driver whose identity was built on going faster than everyone else.
Ricciardo’s post-F1 portfolio turns his name into the asset, which means he gets paid for being himself — not for the tenths of a second a team needs from him.
Are Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen still friends?
One of the most searched questions about Ricciardo has nothing to do with lap times. The short answer from the public record: yes — or at least, nothing suggests otherwise.
History of rivalry
- Teammates at Red Bull from 2016 to 2018.
- Two alpha drivers in one team produced spectacular overtakes and cold press conferences.
- Ricciardo left at the end of 2018, a move widely read as a reaction to Red Bull’s focus on Verstappen.
The on-track history is mostly friendly war: wheel-to-wheel battles across four seasons that neither driver ever turned into a personal feud. The competition was real; the animosity was largely manufactured by the media.
Current relationship
- No public falling-out has ever been reported.
- Verstappen has generally spoken warmly about Ricciardo in public since their split.
- Ricciardo’s post-F1 comments about valuing family and friends fit the same picture (Newsweek — news magazine)
Newsweek reported that Ricciardo said stepping away from racing gave him a greater appreciation for family and friends. It is the closest thing to a statement on what — and who — matters after the cheering stops.
The takeaway: whatever tension existed inside Red Bull’s garage in 2018, the relationship outlived the rivalry — and neither driver has given fans any reason to think otherwise.
Is Daniel Ricciardo single now?
This is the question that dominates comment sections, and the honest answer is less dramatic than the speculation: as far as the public record shows, Ricciardo is single.
Who is Daniel Ricciardo’s partner in 2026?
- No partner has been confirmed for 2026.
- No public relationship has been announced since he left F1.
There is no public confirmation of a partner for 2026. That is not proof he is single — it is simply the limit of what the public record shows.
What is Natalie Pinkham’s relationship with Daniel Ricciardo?
- Natalie Pinkham is a Sky Sports F1 presenter.
- No confirmed romantic relationship exists between her and Ricciardo.
The connection exists only in fan speculation; neither Pinkham nor Ricciardo has ever confirmed a relationship.
Does Daniel Ricciardo have kids?
- No public record of children.
- No statements from Ricciardo about fatherhood.
Nothing in the public record indicates Ricciardo has children. The question surfaces mainly because of curiosity about his private life after racing.
Has Daniel Ricciardo got ADHD?
- No public confirmation from Ricciardo.
- The speculation traces to social media, not to any medical or official statement.
The ADHD question keeps appearing in searches, but no interview, biography or official record supports it. It is a reminder that online speculation can outrun the truth.
The $30 million net worth repeated across the internet remains an estimate: Ricciardo has never published financial records, and no public filing confirms the number.
What this means: every year out of the spotlight adds more noise to the signal. Ricciardo’s private life is private by design, and the absence of confirmation is not the same as confirmation of absence.
Daniel Ricciardo’s career timeline
Eight markers trace the arc from debut to departure. The career statistics above are from Formula1.com; the final chapter comes from GPFans and Speedcafe, cited earlier.
- — F1 debut at the British Grand Prix with HRT.
- — First F1 win at the Canadian Grand Prix.
- 2016-2018 — Teammates with Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
- 2019-2020 — Renault years.
- 2021-2022 — McLaren years.
- 2023 — Returns to Red Bull as reserve, then steps into AlphaTauri.
- — Last race at the Singapore Grand Prix; RB confirms his exit.
- 2025 — Brand partnerships, karting series, and a deliberately slower year.
The arc is clearer in retrospect: a meteor rise, a long plateau, and an exit that came sooner than his early career promised.
What we know vs. what’s still unclear
The public record is uneven: the biggest facts are confirmed, but the details fans ask about most are exactly the ones Ricciardo has not made public.
Confirmed facts
- RB confirmed his exit with six races of the 2024 season remaining (GPFans — F1 news outlet)
- Career totals: 257 starts, eight wins, three pole positions, 32 podiums — as cited above.
- He has not announced a full retirement from motorsport.
What’s unclear
- Whether he will return to F1 in a competitive seat.
- His relationship status in 2026.
- Whether the ADHD speculation online has any basis.
- His exact net worth — the $30 million figure is an estimate.
- Which racing categories, if any, he might enter next.
The list is intentionally unbalanced: the public record is clear on what Ricciardo did, and nearly silent on what he will do next.
Ricciardo in his own words
Two conversations from 2025 capture the tone of his first year out.
“Trying to learn to be a bit more selfless.”
Daniel Ricciardo, as reported by Motorsport.com (motorsport news outlet)
“…trying to understand his identity beyond being a race-car driver.”
Daniel Ricciardo, as reported by Ray White Commercial (event host)
The common thread: speed was the skill that defined him; stillness is the one he is learning.
The road ahead
Every signal from Ricciardo’s first year out points the same way: he did not choose to leave F1, but he is making the most of the exit. The businesses give him income without a team; the karting series keeps him close to racing; the slower pace gives him something F1 never did — time. For more on how this chapter closes, see Ricciardo’s retirement and life after racing. For Ricciardo, the calculus is already clear: building an identity that outlasts the helmet is the only race he cannot afford to lose.
Frequently asked questions
Is Daniel Ricciardo returning to Formula 1?
There is no public confirmation either way. Ricciardo has not ruled out a return, but his 2025 activities — brands, wine, karting and appearances — suggest he is building a life that does not depend on a race seat.
Why was Daniel Ricciardo replaced by Liam Lawson?
RB confirmed in September 2024 that Ricciardo would leave with six races of the season remaining, and Lawson took over with immediate effect.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s net worth?
Public estimates have placed it around $30 million, but the figure is not confirmed by any official filing or statement from Ricciardo. Treat it as an estimate.
How many Formula 1 wins does Daniel Ricciardo have?
Eight Grand Prix victories, along with 32 podiums and 257 starts (Formula1.com — official F1 website).
What is the shoey celebration?
The shoey is Ricciardo’s signature podium ritual: removing a racing boot and drinking champagne from it. It became a fan favorite during his Red Bull years.
What business ventures is Daniel Ricciardo involved in?
His main projects are Enchanté, a clothing brand; DR3 Wines, a wine label; and the Daniel Ricciardo Series, a grassroots karting competition.
The answers above separate confirmed facts from the questions Ricciardo has left open.
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.