It’s hard to picture the Formula 1 grid without Daniel Ricciardo’s grin, but the Australian nicknamed the Honey Badger spent 14 seasons in the sport and collected 8 wins and 32 podiums before RB released him after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. Since then he has traded race weekends for hiking trails, a rosé label, and a quieter life beyond the cockpit — here’s what’s confirmed, what’s still uncertain, and where he goes from here.
F1 Wins: 8 ·
Podiums: 32 ·
Teams Driven For: 6 ·
Races Entered: 257 ·
Age (2024): 35
Quick snapshot
- His final F1 race was the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix (Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
- He joined McLaren for the 2021 season (McLaren Racing heritage archive)
- He returned to F1 with AlphaTauri from the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix (Honda Global’s F1 driver profile)
- His exact net worth — no official or audited figure exists
- Future racing plans: IndyCar, Supercars, or full retirement
- His relationship status, which he keeps deliberately private
- A mid-season exit: the RB seat went to Liam Lawson with six races still to run (per Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
- His final season produced three top-10 finishes in 18 races, best result eighth (per Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
- Formula 1 described his exit as the start of a new life outside racing (Formula 1’s official website)
- A rosé with St Hugo reached the market within months (Sporting News F1 coverage)
- He has not ruled out racing again in other series (per Formula 1’s official website) (Formula 1’s official website)
This grid separates what can be verified from what remains open-ended.
Nine rows, one pattern: the numbers are elite — eight wins, 32 podiums, three pole positions — but the final season’s results tell a quieter story than the career total (per the Encyclopaedia Britannica biography).
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Daniel Joseph Ricciardo |
| Born | 1 July 1989 (age 35) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| F1 Debut | 2011 British Grand Prix |
| Teams | HRT, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Renault, McLaren, RB |
| Wins | 8 |
| Podiums | 32 |
| Pole Positions | 3 |
| Best Championship Finish | 3rd (2014, 2016) |
What has happened to Daniel Ricciardo?
The short answer: he lost his race seat. RB — the rebranded AlphaTauri — replaced Ricciardo with Liam Lawson after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, leaving the final six rounds of the season to the younger driver (per the Encyclopaedia Britannica biography).
Why did Daniel Ricciardo leave F1?
- RB made a mid-season driver change; Ricciardo did not announce a retirement at that point, according to the Britannica profile
- Teammate Yuki Tsunoda outscored him by 10 points over the season
- Formula 1’s own coverage framed it as a lost seat, not a chosen exit
The implication: Ricciardo’s departure had more to do with team priorities than with his desire to stop racing. That distinction matters because it shapes everything he has said since.
What was his final race?
- The 2024 Singapore Grand Prix — across 18 races that year he managed three top-10 finishes, with eighth his best result (per the Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
- Liam Lawson drove the remaining six rounds of the season (per the Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
- Ricciardo finished 14th in the drivers’ championship, 10 points behind Tsunoda (per the Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
Ricciardo left the grid with 32 podiums and 8 wins, yet the decision to end his F1 run was made for him by a midfield team chasing younger points. His exit reads less like a choice and more like a market correction.
What this means: the stats describe a driver whose results had gone cold, but whose name still carried more weight than the scoreboard showed.
What is Ricciardo doing now?
Ricciardo has described the months since his exit as a deliberate period of self-exploration — hiking, family time, and an effort to understand who he is without a racing car around him (per Formula 1’s official website). The public version of his new life is part recovery, part rebrand.
Is Ricciardo still involved with Formula 1?
- He has kept ties with Red Bull as an ambassador, staying close to the team’s events and content
- He told the official F1 website he had been hiking and spending more time appreciating family and friends
- No permanent broadcast or media contract has been announced
The pattern: his F1 involvement continues through relationships rather than a race seat — Red Bull’s events, former teammates, and the occasional paddock appearance keep him in the frame.
What is his business brand Enchante?
- Enchante is Ricciardo’s lifestyle brand
- After leaving F1, he released a rosé with St Hugo (per Sporting News)
- He has also backed a tailgate business with Dabble, spreading his bets beyond racing merchandise
Why this matters: Ricciardo is treating his post-F1 career like a portfolio rather than a single job — wine, apparel, and events that keep the Honey Badger name in circulation.
Does Ricciardo have a media role?
- No full-time media role has been confirmed since his exit
- His public statements so far point to reflection over promotion — a self-described journey of discovery rather than a rush of sponsorship deals
- He has said he is trying to work out who he is beyond racing, which keeps his tone open-ended
A rosé launch and a tailgate brand only work if the name still travels. Ricciardo’s post-F1 income now depends on staying visible — which is exactly why his Red Bull ties matter as much as any race deal ever did.
The trade-off: staying uncommitted keeps every option open — another race seat, a media career, or a full pivot to business. It also leaves his next act undefined.
Is Max Verstappen still friends with Daniel Ricciardo?
Yes. Verstappen and Ricciardo became close during their Red Bull years, and the friendship has outlasted the teammate pairing. The words Verstappen chose after Ricciardo’s exit — calling him “a legend of the sport” — said more than any paddock rumor.
Who is Lando Norris’ best friend?
- Norris counts Ricciardo among his closest friends in the paddock
- Ricciardo’s departure removed one of the grid’s most entertaining double acts; the two remain close off track
The connection matters because friendships inside F1 keep retired drivers inside the sport’s biggest storylines.
Is Daniel Ricciardo single now?
- He is not married and has kept his private life deliberately low-key
- No public partner has been confirmed since his exit
The takeaway: Ricciardo treats his personal life as the one asset he won’t monetize — a rare boundary in a sport that sells everything else.
Does Daniel Ricciardo come from a wealthy family?
No — and that background is part of his appeal. Unlike several drivers who arrived with family money behind them, Ricciardo’s junior career was funded the hard way.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s family background?
- His father worked as a mechanic and his mother as a homemaker
- The family supported his early racing without the vast budgets of some rivals
The contrast: Ricciardo is the rare F1 star who built his wealth on track rather than arriving with it.
Who has the richest parent in F1?
- Lawrence Stroll, father of Lance Stroll, is the name most F1 guides put first
- Adam Norris, father of Lando Norris, is the other figure that regularly surfaces
The same modest background that made Ricciardo relatable is now the foundation of his commercial pitch. It works only as long as he stays the person fans think he is.
The implication: the wealth debate in F1 often circles around Stroll and Norris — which makes Ricciardo’s mechanic’s-son story resonate even more.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s net worth in 2026?
No public figure can be verified, because drivers don’t publish audited finances. Media estimates have placed Ricciardo’s net worth near $30 million as of 2024, but any 2026 projection depends on how his new ventures perform. His reported salary at RB was around $7 million per year — a mid-range figure by F1 standards.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s annual salary?
- Reported salary at RB: around $7 million per year
- That places him in the middle of the 2024 grid — well behind the top earners, comfortably above the rookies
What is Lando Norris’ salary?
- Norris reportedly earns around $20 million per year at McLaren
The gap between Ricciardo’s reported $7 million and Norris’ reported $20 million shows how F1 pay follows current results, not past highlights.
Who is the lowest-paid F1 driver?
Zhou Guanyu was reportedly the lowest-paid driver on the 2024 grid, with a salary around $2 million. The range across the grid is enormous — and it explains why Ricciardo’s pay matters less than his off-track earnings.
How does Ricciardo’s salary compare?
- Zhou Guanyu: reported $2 million per year — the lowest reported figure
- Daniel Ricciardo: reported $7 million per year — mid-range
- Max Verstappen: reported $55 million per year — the top earner
What factors determine F1 driver salaries?
- Team budget and bargaining power — top teams pay top dollar
- Track record — wins and podiums justify guaranteed money
- Marketability — drivers who sell sponsorships earn premiums beyond results
- Contract timing — competitive driver markets push salaries upward
The spread between reported top and bottom salaries is roughly 27-fold — $55 million for Verstappen versus $2 million for Zhou. Ricciardo’s reported $7 million sits in the middle, which is exactly why his wine brand and media appearances matter financially.
The trade-off: Ricciardo was paid like a mid-grid driver in 2024, but his earning potential always rested on personality as much as pace.
Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 timeline
From his 2011 debut to his 2024 farewell, his career path zigzagged — and each move was a bet that a new team would bring back his best form.
- — F1 debut with HRT at the British Grand Prix (per McLaren Racing heritage archive)
- — First F1 wins at the Canadian, Hungarian and Belgian Grands Prix; third in the drivers’ championship (per Honda Global’s F1 driver profile)
- — Leaves Red Bull for Renault (per Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
- — Joins McLaren and wins the Italian Grand Prix (per McLaren Racing heritage archive)
- — McLaren and Ricciardo agree to end the partnership (per Honda Global’s F1 driver profile)
- — Returns to F1 with AlphaTauri from the Hungarian Grand Prix (per Honda Global’s F1 driver profile)
- — Drives for RB; released after the Singapore Grand Prix (per Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
The pattern: his best years came with Red Bull, and no later move ever fully recaptured that form.
Confirmed facts vs. what’s still unclear
With Ricciardo’s next move unannounced, it helps to sort the documented from the speculative. The uncertainty list is longer — which is itself a sign of how little he has said on the record.
Confirmed facts
- His final F1 race was the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, after which RB turned to Liam Lawson (per the Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
- He has 8 wins and 32 podiums across 257 starts
- He founded the lifestyle brand Enchante
- He remains a Red Bull ambassador
What’s unclear
- His exact net worth — $30 million is the most-cited estimate, but no verified figure exists
- Future racing plans — IndyCar, Supercars, or full retirement are all open
- His relationship status — kept private since his exit
- Whether the decision to leave was entirely the team’s or partly his own; public statements have stayed gracious but vague
- How Enchante and the St Hugo collaboration fit into a long-term business model
The pattern: the confirmed list is compact, the uncertain list is wide, and Ricciardo’s own public statements have deliberately kept it that way.
What Ricciardo and Verstappen said
Ricciardo’s own words, shared around the time of his exit, capture the transition better than any statistic. In conversation with Formula 1’s official website, he described an effort to find an identity beyond driving.
“I’ve loved this sport my whole life. It’s been a wild ride.”
— Daniel Ricciardo
“He’s a great person and a legend of the sport.”
— Max Verstappen
The second line, from Verstappen, came as Ricciardo’s exit was confirmed — a reminder that the paddock’s respect for him never depended on results alone.
Where Ricciardo goes from here
Ricciardo leaves F1 with an asset most drivers never build: affection. His exit has produced little of the bitterness that often follows a mid-season sacking, and former teammates have kept praising him openly. For young Australian drivers, the playbook he leaves behind is clear — win early, build a personality, and let the brand outlast the seat. For Ricciardo, the choice is just as clear: keep converting that goodwill into a business before the paddock moves on.
en.wikipedia.org, eveningledger.uk, sportingnews.com, finance-monthly.com
Frequently asked questions
Will Daniel Ricciardo return to Formula 1?
Nothing has been announced. He has not ruled out racing in other categories, and he remains close to the Red Bull program as an ambassador, but no F1 seat is open for him at the moment.
How many F1 wins does Daniel Ricciardo have?
Eight, with 32 podiums in total. His first victory came at the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix, and his most famous one was the 2021 Italian Grand Prix with McLaren.
Is Daniel Ricciardo married?
No. He has kept his personal life private and is not publicly married or dating anyone as of this writing.
What does the shoey celebration mean?
The “shoey” is Ricciardo’s signature podium ritual: he takes off a racing boot, pours champagne into it, and drinks. It became one of F1’s most recognizable celebrations during his Red Bull years.
Why is Ricciardo called the Honey Badger?
The nickname stuck early in his career because of his aggressive, never-give-up overtaking style. It has since become central to his personal brand.
How old is Daniel Ricciardo?
He was born on 1 July 1989, making him 35 during the 2024 season.
These answers stick to the record, leaving the genuinely open questions about Ricciardo’s next move unresolved.
Related reading
- Daniel Ricciardo: What Happened, Doing Now, Net Worth
- Daniel Ricciardo: F1 Exit, New Life, Stats, and Comeback Rumors
For Ricciardo, the next chapter depends on turning paddock affection into durable business income before the spotlight moves.
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.