Well it’s official, Formula 1 has said goodbye (hopefully just for now) to one of its favourites. Just a few days after the Singapore Grand Prix, it was announced that eight time race winner Daniel Ricciardo was to depart Visa Cash App RB (VCARB). Ricciardo will be replaced by New Zealand driver Liam Lawson, who deputised for Ricciardo for a number of races last season after the Australian suffered a broken hand during practice at Zandvoort.
The news was a shock to many in the F1 paddock and fans alike, including me, who saw the news on my phone as I drove home from work and ended up crying while sat at some traffic lights...
Singapore felt like an unofficial swan song for Danny Ric, with rumours swirling going into the weekend at Marina Bay that he was due to lose his seat. After being grilled by multiple journalists, the usual smiley Aussie was seen to tear up as he discussed his future in the sport - little did we know this may have been Daniel Ricciardo’s last time as an F1 driver (not going to lie, that still really hurts to say). Following VCARB’s announcement of his departure on Thursday, September 26h there has been such an outpouring of love and support for the Australian across social media - including tributes from current and past drivers, rival teams, pundits, millions of fans and even the likes of the NFL and Netflix. After all he was the protagonist for many on Drive to Survive and a lot of new fans’ gateway into the sport we all love.
But instead of feeling sad about the departure of one of the grid’s most loved characters, let’s pick out some of the standout moments of the Honey Badger’s career, both on and off the track.
MONACO 2018
Let’s start off with a bang, and why not? The 2018 Monaco Grand Prix was one of Daniel Ricciardo’s most defining moments as a Formula 1 driver and remains as one of the most impressive performances around the tricky Monte Carlo track. Ricciardo first made a big name for himself when he was promoted to the Red Bull seat in 2014 alongside four time world champion Sebastian Vettel, and came close to winning the 2016 Monaco GP, but an uncharacteristically slow pitstop meant he lost the win to Lewis Hamilton, his thunder-like face on the podium said it all. Flash forward two years to 2018 he found himself lining up in pole position once again, with the horrors of 2016 still looming fresh in his mind, could he do it?
Yes, but he didn’t make it easy!
Early on in the race, he suffered a major power unit failure and had to drive the damaged Red Bull with incredible precision around the Monaco track, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel breathing down his neck, waiting for the almost inevitable retirement, but it never came. Somehow, Danny Ric managed to nurse his Red Bull over the line and put those previous curses to bed as the winner of the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix.
Redemption Day, shoeys on the podium, diving into the Red Bull Energy Station pool, just iconic.
THE LAST OF THE LATE BRAKERS
Danny Ric’s self titled nickname in F1 is the Honey Badger, an animal which looks adorable and loveable on the surface, but is vicious to anyone that attempts to challenge it, and that Honey Badger mentality was shown perfectly in some of Ricciardo’s most ballsy moves. From starting 10th and pulling off big moves in the 2017 Azerbaijan GP (well done Baku) to his triple overtake at the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix and all the dive bombs in between, Ricciardo cemented himself as The Last of the Late Brakers, and was feared by many drivers across the grid.
2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg even told the Australian he dreaded seeing him in his rear mirrors as he knew what was about to happen. Even when he struggled at McLaren and VCARB, there was still glimpses of the Honey Badger of old, still managing to pull off those iconic late braking moves to gain position over his rivals, notably a double Alpine overtake at the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix - a classic Honey Badger move!
FUNNIEST MAN IN F1?
When I was about 14 or 15, I was watching F1 at my dad’s and decided I’d support the ‘smiley Australian fella’ purely because I thought he was a good laugh, and that’s certainly one of the largest parts of Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 legacy off the track! Well known for his iconic laugh and huge smile, Danny Ric is always joking in press conferences or in interviews with journalists - even getting plenty laughs out of his fellow drivers. You always know if he’s in front of a camera or microphone, there’s a gem incoming.
Arguably, the Aussie has too many catch phrases to even count, and his personality shone through even more in the Netflix series Drive to Survive, with his dead pan opening of ‘My name’s Daniel Ricciardo and I’m a car mechanic’.
So here’s a brief run through of some of my favourite Danny Ric quotes and funny moments.
“NICOOOOOO HUUUUUULKENBEEEEEEEERG” (see also: PIEEEEEEEEERRE GASLYYYYYYYYYYY)
“I’m a high performance athlete, athletes sweat, sweat baby ki ki ki rah sweat sweat”
“Have you got pubes yet?”
Netflix are a real bunch of c***s aren’t they?!
“Top of the morning to you Graham!” ‘I’m Scottish!’
“Holy Mac and Cheese Balls”
'I'm tripping major nut sack right now'
“Get it girl get it!”
“Pizza pizza pizza!”
“Sometimes you’ve just got to lick the stamp and send it”
What's your favourite Danny Ric funny moment? Let us know!
HIS BROMANCE WITH MAX VERSTAPPEN
You can’t mention Daniel Ricciardo without mentioning Max Verstappen and vice versa. Ricciardo was paired with the 18 year old Verstappen back in 2016 after Red Bull dropped Daniil Kvyat (spelling) and became team mates, fierce competitors on track and best mates off it. Nicknamed by many as Maxiel, the outgoing Aussie and the shy Dutch teenager struck up a strong friendship, and have a notable amount of iconic moments together on and off the track (mainly getting up to mischief off it.) To a lot of people, Danny Ric was almost like a big brother figure to young Max, and the pair still hang out often in the paddock and support each other after Danny Ric moved onto pastures new away from Red Bull, and back again in 2023.
From the ‘HOLA TODOS, HELLO EVERYONE!’ to raving on the top of Eau Rouge, terrorising Dutch journalists, smashing up caravans, doing Shoeys on the podium together and everything in between, Danny Ric seems to bring Max out of his shell and their friendship is one of the most wholesome on the grid (we won’t discuss Baku 2018, ouch…) Arguably, Danny Ric has been the only teammate Max has had that has challenged him on the track, and Red Bull have found it difficult to hold down a replacement ever since.
Ricciardo has even been quoted as saying if he couldn’t win a championship he wanted Max to, and may pay a pivotal part in his old team friend’s championship hopes against McLaren’s Lando Norris this season. Danny Ric’s last lap, potentially ever as an F1 driver ended up being the a lap record around the Singapore Marina Bay Circuit and more importantly it was the fastest lap of the entire Grand Prix, which stole a point away from eventual winner Norris and kept Verstappen and Red Bull hot on the heels of McLaren in their pursuit of both the drivers and constructor title. As Max was told his ‘old friend Daniel’ had gotten fastest lap, the current world champion replied ‘thank you Daniel’ over his team radio - it felt like almost a total full circle moment for the pair, and surely Danny Ric is owed a big Christmas present if Max ends up winning the title by one point?!
HE NEVER LEFT…
After Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo went to Renault where he had a mixed bag of results, struggling some weekends but also bagged some much needed podiums for the French team during his time there in 2019 and 2020. Following Carlos Sainz’s move to Ferrari, Danny Ric moved to McLaren for the 2021 season onwards, and would partner Lando Norris at the Woking team. There’s no denying the Aussie struggled big time at McLaren but at the time they were a team who were struggling on track, with an uncompetitive car but two strong drivers who did their best to out-perform it. Monza 2021, Ricciardo qualified a strong third and after an early crash of that season’s main protagonists Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, he was able to capitalise on their tangle and pulled into first position - his first time there since 2018.
Arguably an honorary Italian, Daniel Ricciardo was first to the chequered flag at the Temple of Speed, with Norris in second place, an historic 1-2 for the team and McLaren’s first win since 2012. Of course, podium celebrations and the inevitable shoeys followed, but his radio following his Monza win still goes down as an iconic moment in his career - as many people he could ever win again.
“And for anyone who thought I'd left, I never left. Just moved aside for a while”
Although his time at McLaren ultimately never worked out, he’s been written into the team’s historic books, and is permanently etched on Zak Brown’s arm.
CALL IT A DAY?
I refuse to 'call it a day' on Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 career, mainly because it hasn’t sunk in yet and because I’m delusional, but I think it’s more of a ‘see you later’. I can imagine he’ll want some time away from the paddock as his departure from VCARB has been handled horribly, and a lot of people are disappointed that if this is it for Danny Ric, he wasn’t given a proper send off in Singapore. If this is it for him, an eight time race winner and ultimately a great ambassador for Formula 1, deserves better.
Like many, I’d love to see the Honey Badger continue in another series, being the honorary American Cowboy that he is, he’s been linked to both Nascar and Indycar in recent years, and many would love to see how he’d do around the tricky tracks and ovals of the USA - he’s doesn’t call himself Ricky Bobby for nothing! But if he wants to call it a day on his driving career, it would be great to see him back in F1 in a presenter role similar to the likes of Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button and others, or maybe even management like fellow Red Bull Aussie Mark Webber.
Daniel Ricciardo, Danny Ric, Ricky Bobby, Ricciardo Daniel, the Honey Badger leaves F1 after 14 years with 8 wins, 32 podiums, 3 pole positions, 17 fastest laps and countless iconic moments. Always bringing an air of positivity and humour to the paddock, he'll be a huge miss in the mad world of Formula 1 but whatever’s next for him, I know he’ll do great and continue to be a great ambassador for the sport we all love.
Sky Sport's Ted Kravitz summed him up perfectly...
"Thank you to Daniel Ricciardo, thank you for that smile, thank you for the shoes, thanks for I never left, thanks for that gorgeous nose of his, thanks for coming into the paddock on that horse. Thanks for the Enchante merch, thanks for the red wine, thanks for those cowboy boots that he wears sometimes.
"Thanks for licking the stamp and sending it. Thank you for being honest. Thank you for being a gentleman and thank you for being a proper great Aussie bloke Daniel Ricciardo - we love you. If this is it. Thank you so much."
Enjoy The Butterflies, thank you DR 🦋
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