Few drivers have brought as much joy to Formula 1 as Daniel Ricciardo — the grin, the podium “Shoey,” the late-braking overtakes that made rivals wince — yet the 2024 season turned out to be his last full-time campaign, closing a story that began with HRT in 2011 (RacingNews365’s driver profile). Here’s what’s confirmed about the wins, the money, and what comes next for the “Honey Badger.”
Age: 35 ·
Height: 1.78 m ·
Grand Prix wins: 8 ·
Former teams: Red Bull, Renault, McLaren, Visa Cash App RB ·
Current role: No full-time seat (since 2024)
Quick snapshot
- 8 Grand Prix wins and 32 podiums (McLaren F1’s career results database)
- 2024 championship: 17th with 12 points (Honda Global’s official driver profile)
- Final race: Singapore, September 2024 (McLaren F1’s career results database) (McLaren F1’s career results database)
- Exact net worth — estimates range from $30 million to $50 million
- Whether he will return to a full-time Formula 1 seat
- Why the McLaren years produced only one win
- : F1 debut with HRT (Wikipedia’s race-by-race summary)
- : final season at Visa Cash App RB; last race at Singapore (McLaren F1’s career results database) (Wikipedia’s race-by-race summary)
- No full-time race seat confirmed since Singapore (RacingNews365’s driver profile)
- Honda’s profile notes he stepped away from a full-time seat during 2024 (Honda Global’s official driver profile)
Six rows, one pattern: the numbers that usually settle a Ricciardo argument — birth date, nationality, win count — are the same in every official record, even as his seat keeps changing.
| Label | Value |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Daniel Joseph Ricciardo |
| Date of Birth | |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Current Team | None (last: Visa Cash App RB) |
| Grand Prix Wins | 8 |
| Podiums | 32 |
Is Daniel Ricciardo with Red Bull?
The short answer is both yes and no: Ricciardo returned to the Red Bull family in 2023, spent 2024 on track with its sister team, and was out of a seat by the end of the year.
What is Ricciardo’s role at Red Bull in 2024?
- 2024 role: full-time race driver at Visa Cash App RB — 17th in the championship with 12 points from 18 starts, three top-10 finishes, no wins and no pole positions (ESPN’s Formula 1 statistics)
- Best Grand Prix result: eighth at the Canadian Grand Prix (The Field F1’s driver stats)
For 2024, Ricciardo was not a reserve. He had a full-time race seat at Visa Cash App RB, the team formerly known as AlphaTauri, and the season was supposed to audition him for a return to the senior Red Bull team.
A driver who once won seven races for Red Bull ended 2024 with 12 points and no podiums — the statistical signature of a comeback that stalled, not launched.
How did his return to Red Bull come about?
- 2023: after McLaren paid out the final year of his contract, Ricciardo joined Red Bull as third driver and replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri mid-season (Wikipedia’s race-by-race summary)
- 2024 line-up: Visa Cash App RB, the Red Bull sister team (Honda Global’s official driver profile)
The path back was unusually quick. Ricciardo spent the first half of 2023 out of a race seat, then got one when AlphaTauri moved on from De Vries. A year later, the sister team changed its name to Visa Cash App RB, and Ricciardo was its most experienced driver.
Why did McLaren sack Ricciardo?
“Sacked” is the loose term. What actually happened: McLaren ended its relationship with Ricciardo after a downturn in results, with the final year of his deal paid out instead of raced.
What were the reasons for Ricciardo’s poor performance at McLaren?
- Teammate gap and exit: Ricciardo was consistently out-scored by Lando Norris across 2021 and 2022, with McLaren paying out the final year of his contract to end the deal after the 2022 season (Wikipedia’s race-by-race summary)
Ricciardo’s McLaren years were the statistical outlier of his career — two seasons, one win, and an early exit paid for in cash. The one bright spot, the 2021 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, is covered in the championship section below.
One win, two seasons, and a buyout to leave early: the McLaren chapter cost both sides more than it delivered.
How did his contract termination affect his career?
Being paid to leave McLaren turned out to be the best career move Ricciardo had left: it put him back inside the Red Bull system, where his reputation was still strong.
The termination changed Ricciardo’s trajectory. Instead of a third McLaren season, he spent the first half of 2023 as Red Bull’s reserve, returned to the grid at AlphaTauri by mid-season, and was out of a full-time seat again by the end of 2024.
The pattern: McLaren’s decision was as much about fit as pace. Ricciardo never fully adapted to the car, and the team decided the project was not worth another season. The payout made the divorce clean, if not cheap.
Has Daniel Ricciardo won a Formula 1 Championship?
No. Ricciardo never won the Formula 1 World Championship. His best finishes were third place in 2014 and 2016, and his career totals are eight wins and 32 podiums, with the last victory coming at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix for McLaren (ESPN’s Formula 1 statistics).
How many race wins does Ricciardo have?
- Eight Grand Prix wins in total
- Seven with Red Bull (2014–2018)
- One with McLaren (Monza, 2021)
The wins were concentrated in his Red Bull years. After he left, the victories almost stopped — one in four seasons, and none at all after 2021.
What is his best championship finish?
- Third in the Drivers’ Championship: 2014 and 2016
Both were best-of-the-rest seasons in an era defined by one team. Ricciardo’s talent was never the question; the car underneath him was.
What this means: Ricciardo was fast enough to win at the front, but he never had a title-contending car in the seasons that mattered most.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s net worth?
Ricciardo’s net worth is one of the most searched numbers attached to his name — and one of the least documented. Public estimates put it between $30 million and $50 million, built from more than a decade of F1 salaries and endorsements (see our Daniel Ricciardo career-stats profile).
How did Ricciardo earn his wealth?
- Primary income: multi-year, multi-million salaries at Red Bull, Renault and McLaren
- Additional income: endorsement deals with brands including Puma and Renault
Ricciardo’s earning years track his team moves: Red Bull, then Renault, then McLaren. His biggest reported contracts came after he left Red Bull, which is when the financial picture and the results picture began to diverge.
What is his salary history?
- Exact figures were never officially published
- Known milestone: a McLaren contract that was paid out before its final season
The money question, then, is really a timing question: the biggest contracts and the best results never overlapped.
The teams that paid Ricciardo the most — Renault and McLaren — are the same ones where his win count stalled. Money followed him; victories didn’t.
For Ricciardo, the financial legacy is secure. The competitive legacy is the part still in dispute.
Who are some Australian Formula One drivers?
Ricciardo is one of a small group of Australians who have made Formula 1 a full-time career, and he is the reference point for most modern conversations about Australian drivers.
Which other Australian drivers have competed in F1?
- Jack Brabham
- Alan Jones
- Mark Webber
- Oscar Piastri
The group spans F1’s eras — Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Mark Webber and Oscar Piastri — and Ricciardo’s eight wins place him among its most successful members, as detailed in our F1 career profile.
What is Ricciardo’s place among them?
Ricciardo’s eight wins and 32 podiums make him statistically one of Australia’s best F1 exports, yet the missing title is the line everyone remembers.
What separates Ricciardo from the other names on the list is the gap between his popularity and his trophy count: he became a global brand without ever becoming world champion. The perspective: Australia has produced world champions, but Ricciardo is the one fans still argue about — because the potential always seemed bigger than the results.
A dozen rows, one pattern: every number below has stayed consistent across official databases for years — the only line that keeps moving is the team name.
| Career statistic | Record |
|---|---|
| F1 seasons | 2011–2024 |
| Teams raced for | HRT, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Renault, McLaren, AlphaTauri, Visa Cash App RB |
| Grand Prix wins | 8 |
| Podiums | 32 |
| Best championship finish | 3rd (2014, 2016) |
| Championship titles | 0 |
| 2024 championship position | 17th |
| 2024 points | 12 |
| 2024 race starts | 18 |
| 2024 top-10 finishes | 3 |
| 2024 best Grand Prix result | 8th (Canada) |
| Final race | Singapore Grand Prix, 2024 |
Statistics consolidated from the sources cited throughout this article.
That consistency is the point: Ricciardo’s core numbers are settled even while his team line keeps changing.
Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 career timeline
- — F1 debut with HRT
- — Toro Rosso
- — Red Bull Racing; seven Grand Prix wins
- — Renault
- — McLaren; win at Monza 2021
- — Red Bull third driver; mid-season move to AlphaTauri
- — Visa Cash App RB; final race at Singapore; Liam Lawson took the seat
Career timeline and driver changes per McLaren F1’s career results database.
The pattern: every move after 2018 looked like a step toward something bigger and ended as a step back. Ricciardo’s career is a lesson in how hard it is to go home again.
What’s confirmed about Daniel Ricciardo — and what’s not
Confirmed facts
- No Formula 1 world championship (ESPN’s Formula 1 statistics)
- 2024: 17th in the championship with 12 points (Honda Global’s official driver profile)
- Best 2024 Grand Prix result: eighth at the Canadian Grand Prix (The Field F1’s driver stats)
- The 2024 departure ended a full-time F1 career that stretched over more than a decade (RacingNews365’s driver profile)
What’s unclear
- Exact net worth: estimates range from $30 million to $50 million
- Whether Ricciardo will ever take a full-time Formula 1 seat again
- Why his performance dropped at McLaren — car fit, setup preferences and confidence all get cited
- Whether the Miami sprint fourth place was a sign of a revival or a one-off
The balance of evidence, for now: the solid facts end in 2024. Everything after that — seats, comebacks, even his own net worth — is estimation.
What Ricciardo and Red Bull’s team principal said
It feels like coming home.
Daniel Ricciardo, on returning to Red Bull as third driver in 2023
Daniel is a great character and a proven race winner.
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal, on Ricciardo’s return
The takeaway: even at the lowest point of his career, Ricciardo kept the respect of the team leaders — and the public — in a way few departing drivers manage.
Ricciardo’s F1 story now reads as a complete arc: seven years of Red Bull brilliance, a self-imposed exile that never delivered on track, and a farewell season that ended quietly in Singapore. The numbers — eight wins, 32 podiums, no title — are not in dispute; the judgment on his comeback is. For Ricciardo, the calculation is clear: chase one more midfield seat and risk blurring the legacy, or accept the farewell he never got to choose and let the Shoey be the last word.
Frequently asked questions
Is Daniel Ricciardo married?
Yes. Ricciardo married Heidi Berger in 2024.
How tall is Daniel Ricciardo?
Ricciardo is 1.78 m tall.
How old is Daniel Ricciardo?
Born on 1 July 1989 in Perth, Australia, Ricciardo turned 35 in 2024.
What teams has Daniel Ricciardo driven for?
HRT, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Renault, McLaren, AlphaTauri and Visa Cash App RB.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s iconic celebration?
The “Shoey” — drinking champagne from a racing boot after podiums and wins.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s real name?
Daniel Joseph Ricciardo.
Where can I buy Daniel Ricciardo merchandise?
Licensed Ricciardo merchandise is sold through official F1 team stores and major motorsport retailers; availability varies by collection and region.
For a deeper look at Ricciardo’s career numbers, read Daniel Ricciardo: 8 Wins, Net Worth, F1 Retirement and Daniel Ricciardo: F1 Career, Stats, Net Worth, and Current Status.
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.