Daniel Ricciardo

"Ricciardo" redirects here. For the given name, see Riccardo.

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo in 2019
Born	Daniel Joseph Ricciardo (1989-07-01) 1 July 1989 Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Australian
Car number	3
Entries	258 (257 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	8
Podiums	32
Career points	1329
Pole positions	3
Fastest laps	17
First entry	2011 British Grand Prix
First win	2014 Canadian Grand Prix
Last win	2021 Italian Grand Prix
Last entry	2024 São Paulo Grand Prix
2020 position	5th (119 pts)
Previous series
2005 2006 2006 2007 2007–08 2008 2008 2009 2009–11	Western Australian FFord Formula BMW UK Formula BMW Asia FRenault Italy FRenault Eurocup FRenault WEC Formula 3 Euro Series British Formula 3 Formula Renault 3.5 Series
Championship titles
2008 2009	Formula Renault 2.0 WEC British Formula 3
Awards
2014 2015	Lorenzo Bandini Trophy Laureus Breakthrough of the Year
Website	Official website

Daniel Joseph Ricciardo (/rɪtʃɑːrdoʊ/ "Richardo"; born 1 July 1989) is an Italian-Australian racing driver who is currently competing in Formula One, under the Australian flag, for McLaren. He made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with the HRT team as part of a deal with Red Bull Racing, for whom he was test driving under its sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso. Ricciardo's driver number is 3. He has achieved 8 Grand Prix victories in Formula One.

Ricciardo joined Toro Rosso in 2012 full-time after the team changed its driver lineup and drove a Ferrari-powered car for them in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, Ricciardo was promoted to Red Bull as a replacement for the retired Mark Webber alongside multiple time world champion Sebastian Vettel. In his first season with Red Bull under Renault power, Ricciardo finished third in the championship with his first three Formula One wins, in Canada, Hungary, and Belgium.

After two years without a victory, Ricciardo returned to the top of the podium at the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix, eventually sealing third in the championship for the second time in three years at the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix. He has since added victories for Red Bull at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017 and the Chinese and Monaco Grands Prix in 2018. After 2018, Ricciardo signed with Renault and raced for them in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He joined McLaren for the 2021 and 2022 Formula One seasons, alongside Lando Norris. He obtained his first race win with McLaren at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.

Personal life

Daniel Joseph Ricciardo was born on 1 July 1989 in Perth, Western Australia, to Italian-Australian parents. His father Giuseppe "Joe" Ricciardo, was born in Ficarra (Messina), but relocated to Australia with his family aged just seven. Ricciardo's Australian born mother Grace, had parents originally from Casignana (Calabria). Ricciardo also has a sister; Michelle. Growing up in Duncraig, one of Perth's northern suburbs, Ricciardo's earliest memories of motorsports were of his father racing at the nearby Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo. He attended high school at Newman College.

Ricciardo pronounces his surname "Ricardo" instead of the Italian pronunciation "Rit-chi-ardo", attributing this to the way it was usually pronounced growing up in Australia and by his family. He is often referred to as "the honey badger" in reference to his racing style, explaining how "It's supposed to be the most fearless animal in the animal kingdom. When you look at it, he seems quite cute and cuddly, but as soon as someone crosses his territory in a way he doesn't like, he turns into a bit of a savage and he'll go after anything – tigers, pythons – he turns very quickly, but he's a good guy." Growing up as a fan of NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt, Ricciardo adopted the number 3 as his racing number in honour of him.

Ricciardo supports the AFL's West Coast Eagles and was the club's number-one ticket holder in 2015 and 2016.

Career

Formula Ford and Formula BMW

Born in Perth, Western Australia, Ricciardo started karting at the age of nine, as a member of the Tiger Kart Club (TKC) and entered numerous karting events. In 2005, he entered the Western Australian Formula Ford championship driving a 15-year-old Van Diemen, finishing eighth by season's end. Towards the end of the season, Ricciardo took a leased 13-year-old Van Diemen across to Sandown Raceway in Melbourne to compete at the national Formula Ford series but his aging car was uncompetitive as he finished 16th, 17th and retired during the weekend's three races.

Formula Three

During the mid-part of the 2008 season, Ricciardo made his Formula Three début at the Nürburgring, entering SG Formula's Formula 3 Euro Series team. Despite only a short amount of experience in the car, Ricciardo qualified in eighth for the first race which later converted into sixth in the race after James Jakes and Christian Vietoris stalled on the grid. But he struggled in the reverse-grid race, finishing just fifteenth.

Ricciardo moved to the British Formula 3 Championship for the 2009 season driving for Carlin Motorsport.

Ricciardo continued his partnership with Carlin, by heading to the Macau Grand Prix with the team.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

Ricciardo in the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Circuit Paul Ricard

On 30 October 2009, Ricciardo was signed by Tech 1 to compete in the 2010 season. He had competed with the team at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal in 2009, and was the teammate to Brendon Hartley, another driver who drove for Tech 1 over the season.

Following a minor incident during a mountain bike exercise, Ricciardo was forced to miss the second test of the 2010 season, but went on to take pole position for both races at the season-opening round of the 2010 season in Alcañiz, Spain. He finished third and second in the races respectively, to leave himself at the head of the championship standings. Two weeks later, at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Ricciardo was relegated to last on the grid after being deemed to have hindered the laps of other drivers. In the next two races he finished 13th and fifth respectively – coming 2nd in the latter until many of the front-runners were given penalties for infringing the parc ferme rules before the race. One week later, in Monte Carlo, Ricciardo secured his third pole position of the season, finishing three-tenths of a second ahead of championship rival Stefano Coletti. He secured his first win at the following race, one place ahead of Coletti. Ricciardo went on to secure two more wins at the Hungaroring and at Hockenheim in commanding fashion. Following Ricciardo's sixth pole from 12 races, Tech 1 team boss, Simon Abadie, praised his driver's efforts greatly, saying "I am happy, and happy for Daniel because six poles in 12 races is good going," and later stated his team's ambitions for success, by telling Autosport correspondent Peter Mills, "I really hopes Daniel wins the championship."

At the first race at the Silverstone circuit, Ricciardo was involved in a spectacular incident with pole-sitter Jon Lancaster, in which Ricciardo was sent into a barrel roll, eventually landing on his wheels. The crash saw the end of his race, with teammate Jean-Éric Vergne becoming the eventual winner, following disqualifications. Securing pole for the second race of the weekend, Ricciardo spent much of the race leading the pack by upwards of three seconds. However, braking issues in the second half of the event meant that, on the final lap, championship-rival Esteban Guerrieri was able to pass the Tech 1 racer.

Going into the final round of the season, Ricciardo sat just three points behind championship leader Mikhail Aleshin and 13 ahead of third-place man Esteban Guerrieri. Managing his 8th pole of the season, Ricciardo managed a lights-to-flag victory, setting the fastest lap and placing himself equal first with one race remaining. After securing second place on the grid for the second race of the weekend, Ricciardo managed to hold position until the pit stops, where he was successfully 'jumped' by two of his rivals, including teammate Vergne. With only two laps left in the race and struggling for pace, Ricciardo was overtaken by championship rival Aleshin. Finishing in that order, Ricciardo failed to secure the title in his debut year, losing out to Mikhail Aleshin by only two points.

In 2011 Ricciardo raced for ISR Racing prior to his HRT call-up.

Formula One

Ricciardo as Scuderia Toro Rosso's third driver at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix

Ricciardo made his track debut at the wheel of a Formula One car, when he tested for Red Bull Racing at the young drivers test at Circuito de Jerez over three days, from 1–3 December 2009. On the final day of testing he clocked the fastest time of the test by over a second. This placed him as the only driver to go into the 1:17 bracket. Red Bull Racing's team manager Christian Horner suggested that Ricciardo may replace his 2010 World Series teammate Hartley as the team's test and reserve driver. As it turned out, Ricciardo and Hartley were to share test and reserve duties for both Red Bull, and sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso until the latter was removed from the Red Bull Junior team.

On 11 November 2010, Ricciardo was confirmed as the single driver to represent Red Bull Racing at the end-of-season young drivers test at the Yas Marina Circuit, on 16–17 November. At the announcement, he commented, "I can't wait to get another crack at driving Red Bull Racing's amazing Formula One car." Ricciardo continued to show his one-lap prowess and dominated the event, with his fastest lap being 1.3 seconds faster than 2010 World Champion Sebastian Vettel's qualifying lap the Saturday before.

Days after completing this session Ricciardo was confirmed as Toro Rosso's test and reserve driver for the 2011 season, and would take part in the first free practice session of each race weekend. Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal stated that "having a hungry youngster on the books will keep our current driver pairing nice and sharp", referring to then Toro Rosso drivers Jaime Alguersuari and Sébastien Buemi.

HRT (2011)

Ricciardo racing for HRT at the 2011 Italian Grand Prix

On 30 June 2011, Ricciardo was contracted to Hispania Racing by Red Bull Racing, replacing Narain Karthikeyan for all the remaining races of the 2011 season except the Indian Grand Prix, to allow Karthikeyan to race at his home Grand Prix. Ricciardo made his Grand Prix debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

However, on 22 October 2011, a few days before the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, the race where Karthikeyan was due to gain back his seat for his home race, HRT F1 announced that Vitantonio Liuzzi made way for Karthikeyan, allowing Ricciardo to race in India and extend his learning curve that Red Bull Racing paid the struggling Spanish team to do, as well as allowing Karthikeyan to race in front of his home fans. In Abu Dhabi, Ricciardo retired with mechanical problems after starting 20th on the grid and in the final race at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Ricciardo finished 20th after starting 22nd on the grid.

Toro Rosso (2012–2013)

2012

Ricciardo driving for Toro Rosso at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix

On 14 December 2011, it was confirmed that Ricciardo would drive for the Scuderia Toro Rosso for the 2012 season, alongside Frenchman Jean-Éric Vergne.

At the 2012 Australian Grand Prix on 18 March 2012, Ricciardo managed to overtake his teammate Vergne late on the last lap to come home in ninth place, securing his first two World Championship points.

In wet conditions in Malaysia he finished 12th, after having been first to switch to slick tyres. In Bahrain he qualified sixth, but dropped back during the race and finished 15th. In Monaco he suffered his only retirement of the season, after having started from 15th position.

2013

Ricciardo at the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix

On 31 October 2012, Toro Rosso announced the re-signing of Ricciardo for the 2013 season.

Ricciardo out-scored his teammate Jean-Éric Vergne by seven points and out-qualified him in over 3/4 of the season. His impressive qualifying efforts of 30–7 against Vergne over their two years together help promote him to Toro Rosso senior team, Red Bull, replacing fellow countryman Mark Webber. Ricciardo finished 13th in the championship with 20 points.

Red Bull (2014–2018)

Ricciardo replaced Mark Webber at Infiniti Red Bull Racing at the start of the 2014 Formula One season, partnering Sebastian Vettel, a four-time world champion.

2014

Ricciardo at the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix

In the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, Ricciardo qualified in second place behind Lewis Hamilton and completed the race in second place, despite pressure from rookie Kevin Magnussen in the final laps. Ricciardo was later disqualified, as his car was ruled to have exceeded the mandated hourly fuel flow rate limit. Had he not been disqualified, it would have marked the first time an Australian had made the podium at the Australian Grand Prix since the race became part of the World Championship. Infiniti Red Bull Racing filed an appeal against the disqualification which was rejected by the International Court of Appeal, the FIA decision being upheld.

Ricciardo failed to finish in the Malaysian Grand Prix, but managed to record his first points of the 2014 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where he finished fourth, after starting in 13th position. By winning at the Canadian Grand Prix, Ricciardo became the fourth Australian to win a Grand Prix in Formula One, joining Jack Brabham, Alan Jones and Mark Webber. His victory in Canada broke the chain of six Mercedes victories that marked the beginning of the 2014 season. Ricciardo impressed many by beating Vettel throughout the first half of the 2014 season, and after a clean and tight battle between Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso at the German Grand Prix, Alonso described Ricciardo as 'unbelievable' and "very, very smart, very respectful".

Ricciardo won the Hungarian Grand Prix on 27 July, ahead of Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. He was in third place behind Alonso and Hamilton with less than four laps remaining and overtook Hamilton's Mercedes with a pass on the outside of the Hungaroring's turn two. He then easily caught and passed Alonso's Ferrari as he had very little grip left on his tyres – television footage of his left front tyre after the race showed it to be badly blistered. In the final two laps, Ricciardo pulled away to win the race by 5.225 seconds. His teammate Vettel survived a spin coming onto the main straight late in the race to finish seventh. Ricciardo became the second Australian to win the Hungarian Grand Prix, after Mark Webber's victory – also for Red Bull – in 2010. Ricciardo then went on to score his third victory of his career to go back to back in Belgium, become the first Australian to win there since Jack Brabham in 1960, also making him the only non-Mercedes driver to have won a Grand Prix in 2014.

On 4 October 2014, it was announced that Ricciardo would partner Daniil Kvyat for the 2015 season, following the announcement of Vettel's departure from the team. In his first season for Red Bull Racing, Ricciardo confirmed third place in the drivers' championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix, despite it being his first retirement since the Malaysian Grand Prix. In the final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, despite starting from the pit lane due to a front wing infringement, Ricciardo finished in fourth place and secured the first fastest lap of his Formula One career. For his 2014 performances, Ricciardo won the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year in April 2015.

2015

Ricciardo at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix

On 8 February 2015, during the third episode of series 22 of the popular British motoring television programme Top Gear, Ricciardo became the fastest Formula One driver to perform a lap of the Top Gear test track during the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car feature, beating the previous record-holder Lewis Hamilton with a time of 1:42.2.

In 2015, Red Bull slipped behind Ferrari and Williams in their efforts to take the title fight to Mercedes. The Red Bull cars were held back by the Renault power unit having been out-developed by Mercedes and Ferrari. The RB11 only showed pace in slow and twisty high downforce tracks or in rain, highlighting the car's strong chassis.

Ricciardo achieved his first top five finish in Monaco with fifth and the fastest lap of the race. While tussling for second in Hungary with Nico Rosberg, his race winning charge ground to a halt when the two clashed while hunting down Sebastian Vettel. Ricciardo managed to finish third behind his teammate. It was his first podium since the 2014 United States Grand Prix. He recorded his second podium of the season in Singapore where he finished second and recorded his third fastest lap of the season.

Ricciardo finished the season with 92 points in eighth place in the championship, three points behind teammate Daniil Kvyat. He out-qualified Kvyat 14–5.

2016

Ricciardo after winning the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix

In a much more competitive Red Bull, Ricciardo began the season well, finishing 4th in both Australia and Bahrain and qualifying 2nd and then leading early on in the Chinese Grand Prix before suffering a tyre blowout and finishing in 4th again.

Ricciardo qualified third at the Spanish Grand Prix, and after the two Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed out on the first lap, he led the early stages of the race. After a remarkable strategy call by Ferrari resulting in a very short third stint for Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull decided to answer this by pitting Ricciardo again and cover Vettel, also going for the presumed faster three-stop strategy. This dropped him behind Vettel, new teammate Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen on track, and after a few failed attempts at passing Vettel, a tyre blowout late on in the race meant that he finished fourth again, behind eventual winner Verstappen, and the Ferraris of Räikkönen and Vettel.

Ricciardo scored his first pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix, and led the early wet stages of the race. However, after a very long pitstop in which his team took nearly 40 seconds to ready a set of tyres he lost the race lead to Lewis Hamilton and finished the race in 2nd. Ricciardo was notably upset after the race result, saying: "Two weekends in a row I've been screwed now. It sucks. It hurts."

Ricciardo returned to the podium in Hungary, finishing third, and in Germany, where he finished second. On the podium in Germany, Ricciardo performed a new celebration, where he drank champagne out of his shoe. He calls this celebration the "shoey". He repeated the celebration at the Belgian Grand Prix (where he came second again), this time persuading podium interviewer Mark Webber to also drink from the shoe.

Ricciardo qualified and finished second at the Singapore Grand Prix, after pushing eventual winner Rosberg hard near the end, a late strategy change pushing him to under half a second behind at the finish line.

Ricciardo qualified fourth at the Malaysian Grand Prix but moved up to second into turn one, after a collision between Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg. He then took the lead late on in the race when leader Lewis Hamilton retired with an engine failure. After fighting with his Red Bull teammate Verstappen, Ricciardo took his first victory of the season. He repeated his "shoey" celebration on the podium, and was able to get team boss Christian Horner as well as podium sharers Verstappen and Rosberg to repeat the celebration. Ricciardo eventually sealed third in the Drivers' Championship following a podium finish in Mexico. Other than Sergio Pérez, he is the only driver to have been classified in every race of the 2016 season. In fact, save for just two races in which Ricciardo equalled the previous year's result, he improved on every other race result from 2015.

2017

Ricciardo at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix

Ricciardo qualified 10th in Australia after spinning into the tyre barrier in Q3. He incurred a five-place grid penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change as a result from the crash. A gearbox sensor issue prevented him from taking the start and when he did get going, two laps down, a sudden fuel pressure problem ended his race after 25 laps. He won his fifth Grand Prix at the first Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after qualifying 10th. He finished on the podium five times in a row between Spain and Austria, and then three times in a row between Singapore and Japan. Despite having maintained fourth in the drivers' championship for much of the season, retirements in three of the last four races (including the final race at Abu Dhabi) saw Ricciardo drop down to 5th in the championship, five points behind Kimi Räikkönen.

2018

Ricciardo at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix

Ricciardo started the season with a fourth-place in Australia, from eighth on the grid after a three-place penalty for speeding under red flag conditions. In Bahrain, he recorded a non-finish after an electrical failure on the second lap. His result in the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix was much better, taking a commanding victory by almost nine seconds, after starting sixth on the grid. At the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ricciardo was fighting for fourth with teammate Max Verstappen in the latter half of the race. His front wing made heavy contact with his teammate's rear, and the incident caused both drivers to retire. At the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix, Ricciardo finished fifth and set the track record, despite spinning under the virtual safety car. Coming into the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, Ricciardo and Verstappen were considered favourites to win the race due to their cars superior chassis and down-force. Ricciardo topped all three practice sessions before qualifying, breaking the lap record with each session. Ricciardo managed to secure the second pole of his career at Monaco, topping every qualifying session as well and setting a new lap record again. In the race, Ricciardo managed to hold off the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel to take his first Monaco Grand Prix victory and his first Grand Prix win from pole position, despite having to manage a loss of power due to a MGU-K power output issue throughout the race. Later in the season, he tied for the most retirements in the 2018 season, with 8 retirements in total. He managed four fastest laps for the season, in Australia, China, Spain and Hungary and finished the season sixth in the World Drivers' Championship with 170 points.

Renault (2019–2020)

2019

Ricciardo at the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix

Ricciardo's teammate for the 2019 season was Nico Hülkenberg. Ricciardo had a poor start to the season with retirements in the first two races, from front wing damage in Australia and power failure in Bahrain. A 7th-place finish in China followed. In Azerbaijan, Ricciardo reversed into Daniil Kvyat when both cars stopped after an overtake attempt by Ricciardo, causing race-ending damage for both drivers and Ricciardo's third retirement in four races. Six consecutive race finishes followed, including a strong 4th place in qualifying and 6th-place finish in Canada. Ricciardo then suffered an exhaust failure at the German Grand Prix.

At the Italian Grand Prix, Ricciardo finished in 4th place, his best result of the year. Teammate Hülkenberg finished in 5th, contributing to Renault's best finish since the team returned to the sport in 2016. Ricciardo was involved in a first-lap collision in Russia, leading to his eventual retirement. He was initially classified 6th in Japan, before both Renault cars were disqualified ten days later for using illegal driver aids. Three consecutive points finishes followed, with strong 6th-place finishes in the United States and Brazil.

Ricciardo ended a relatively disappointing season for Renault in 9th place in the championship, with 54 points, ahead of teammate Hülkenberg.

2020

Ricciardo at the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix

Ricciardo had a new teammate for the 2020 season with Hülkenberg being replaced by Esteban Ocon. Ricciardo started the season with a retirement at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix. In this next race, the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix, Ricciardo was running in 6th place with 2 laps to go before an overtake attempt by Lance Stroll forced Ricciardo wide, causing his to lose positions to Stroll and also Lando Norris. He ended the race in 8th after a close ending with Stroll and Sergio Pérez. Ricciardo qualified 11th at the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, and finished the race in 8th place.

At the 2020 British Grand Prix, Ricciardo finished in 4th place, equaling his best result for Renault. He was running in 6th place before late punctures to Carlos Sainz Jr. and Valtteri Bottas promoted him up to 4th. He was close to overtaking Charles Leclerc for his first podium in 2 years, but missed it by 1.2 seconds. At the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, Ricciardo qualified 5th, but a spin midway through the race led to a 14th place finish. Ricciardo qualified 13th and finished 11th at the next race in Spain.

Ricciardo would go on a 11 race point-scoring streak until the end of the season, starting with the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix. He qualified and finished in 4th place, as well as taking the fastest lap on the last lap of the race. At the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, he qualified 7th and finished in 6th place. At the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix, he qualified 8th and was running in 3rd place for the majority of the race, but Alex Albon of Red Bull overtook Ricciardo, leaving him to have to settle for 4th place.

At the Russian Grand Prix, Ricciardo was fastest in the second qualifying segment, but only managed to qualify in 5th place. In the race, he finished in 5th place despite a 5 second penalty. At the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, Ricciardo qualified 6th before going on to score the team's first podium since the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. This was Ricciardo's first podium since joining Renault, and his first since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix. In the next race, the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, he started 10th after having a crash towards the end of second segment of qualifying, damaging his rear wing. He finished 9th in the race. He reached the podium a second time for Renault at the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Starting 5th on the grid, he overtook Pierre Gasly on the first lap, before being overcut by Pérez after being stuck behind traffic. However, a tyre failure and retirement of former teammate Max Verstappen and a strategy error by Pérez's team Racing Point allowed him to finish in 3rd place. In the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, he started 6th, and overtook Valtteri Bottas on the first lap. However, following a red flag he had a poor second start, which dropped him down to 10th place. He eventually finished in 7th place. At the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, he had a chance of a podium after Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Sergio Pérez all collided in the first lap of the race. But a mistimed second pit stop caused Ricciardo to be overtaken, ending the race in 5th place. In his final race for Renault at the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he only managed 12th on the grid, however a good first stint allowed him to exit the pits in 7th place. He also took the fastest lap of the race on the final lap. He finished in 5th place in the championship standings with 119 points, 6 points behind Sergio Pérez in fourth.

On 3 August 2018, it was announced that Ricciardo had signed a two-year contract to drive for Renault.

McLaren (2021–)

Ricciardo at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix

After two years at Renault F1 Team, Ricciardo joined McLaren for the 2021 Formula One World Championship as a replacement for Carlos Sainz Jr. who signed a multi-year deal with Ferrari. His team mate for 2021 is Lando Norris, who was retained by the team. Regarding his new contract, Ricciardo admitted that before signing for McLaren he had held talks with Ferrari about taking over Sebastian Vettel's seat but Ferrari had instead signed Sainz. He subsequently placed 7th in the 2021 season opener in Bahrain, having qualified 6th. At the following race, the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, he finished 6th, having once again qualified in the same position. At the third race of the season in Portugal, Ricciardo suffered a shock exit in qualifying, being knocked out of Q1 and starting the race from 16th. During the race he worked his way through the field and ended in a points-scoring position in ninth, helping McLaren maintain third place in the constructors' championship. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Ricciardo qualified seventh, but managed to climb to fifth on the opening lap. He defended fifth from Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez until lap 45, where Pérez was able to get past at turn 1. He finished sixth, marking the first time in the season he finished ahead of Norris.

He claimed his first victory for McLaren at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, leading home the team's first win since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix and the team's first 1-2 finish since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix with Norris behind him. This is his eighth victory in F1 overall and his first victory since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix.

Awards

• BRDC The Bruce McLaren Trophy: 2013
• Trofeo Lorenzo Bandini: 2014
• Confartigianato Motori Driver of the Year: 2014
• GQ Australia Sportsman of the Year: 2014
• BRDC The Bruce McLaren Trophy: 2014
• BRDC The Innes Ireland Trophy: 2014
• BRDC The Innes Ireland Trophy: 2015
• Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year: 2015
• BRDC The Bruce McLaren Trophy: 2016
• Confartigianato Motori Driver of the Year: 2018

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2005	Western Australian Formula Ford Championship	Privateer	3	0	0	?	0	74	8th
2006	Formula BMW Asia	Eurasia Motorsport	19	2	3	3	12	231	3rd
	Formula BMW UK	Motaworld Racing	2	0	0	0	0	3	20th
	Formula BMW World Final	Fortec Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	5th
2007	Formula Renault 2.0 Italy	RP Motorsport	14	0	0	0	0	196	6th
	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0		4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2008	Formula Renault 2.0 WEC	SG Formula	15	8	9	7	11	192	1st
	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0		18	6	5	5	7	136	2nd
	Formula 3 Euro Series		2	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	Masters of Formula 3		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
2009	British Formula 3 Championship	Carlin Motorsport	20	7	6	5	13	275	1st
	Masters of Formula 3		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Tech 1 Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	34th
	Macau Grand Prix	Carlin	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
2010	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Tech 1 Racing	16	4	8	5	8	136	2nd
2011	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	ISR	12	1	2	3	6	144	5th
	Formula One	HRT Formula 1 Team	11	0	0	0	0	0	27th
2012	Formula One	Scuderia Toro Rosso	20	0	0	0	0	10	18th
2013	Formula One	Scuderia Toro Rosso	19	0	0	0	0	20	14th
2014	Formula One	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	19	3	0	1	8	238	3rd
2015	Formula One	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	19	0	0	3	2	92	8th
2016	Formula One	Red Bull Racing	21	1	1	4	8	256	3rd
2017	Formula One	Red Bull Racing	20	1	0	1	9	200	5th
2018	Formula One	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	21	2	2	4	2	170	6th
2019	Formula One	Renault F1 Team	21	0	0	0	0	54	9th
2020	Formula One	Renault DP World F1 Team	17	0	0	2	2	119	5th
2021	Formula One	McLaren F1 Team	70	1	0	2	1	115*	8th*

* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos	Points
2009	Tech 1 Racing	CAT SPR	CAT FEA	SPA SPR	SPA FEA	MON FEA	HUN SPR	HUN FEA	SIL SPR	SIL FEA	BUG SPR	BUG FEA	ALG SPR Ret	ALG FEA 15	NÜR SPR	NÜR FEA	ALC SPR	ALC FEA	34th	0
2010	Tech 1 Racing	ALC 1 3	ALC 2 2	SPA 1 13	SPA 2 5	MON 1 1	BRN 1 12	BRN 2 5	MAG 1 6	MAG 2 2	HUN 1 1	HUN 2 6	HOC 1 1	HOC 2 11	SIL 1 Ret	SIL 2 2	CAT 1 1	CAT 2 4	2nd	136
2011	ISR Racing	ALC 1	ALC 2	SPA 1 10	SPA 2 9	MNZ 1 6	MNZ 2 2	MON 1 1	NÜR 1 2	NÜR 2 5	HUN 1 DNS	HUN 2 12	SIL 1 2	SIL 2 2	LEC 1 6	LEC 2 2	CAT 1	CAT 2	5th	144

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Year	Team	Car	Qualifying	Quali race	Main race
2009	Carlin	Dallara F308	5th	6th	DNF

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	WDC	Points
2011	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR6	Ferrari 056 2.4 V8	AUS TD	MAL TD	CHN TD	TUR TD	ESP TD	MON TD	CAN TD	EUR TD															27th	0
	Hispania Racing F1 Team	Hispania F111	Cosworth CA2011 2.4 V8									GBR 19
	HRT Formula 1 Team												GER 19	HUN 18	BEL Ret	ITA NC	SIN 19	JPN 22	KOR 19	IND 18	ABU Ret	BRA 20
2012	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR7	Ferrari 056 2.4 V8	AUS 9	MAL 12	CHN 17	BHR 15	ESP 13	MON Ret	CAN 14	EUR 11	GBR 13	GER 13	HUN 15	BEL 9	ITA 12	SIN 9	JPN 10	KOR 9	IND 13	ABU 10	USA 12	BRA 13			18th	10
2013	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR8	Ferrari 056 2.4 V8	AUS Ret	MAL 18†	CHN 7	BHR 16	ESP 10	MON Ret	CAN 15	GBR 8	GER 12	HUN 13	BEL 10	ITA 7	SIN Ret	KOR 19†	JPN 13	IND 10	ABU 16	USA 11	BRA 10				14th	20
2014	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Red Bull RB10	Renault Energy F1-2014 1.6 V6 t	AUS DSQ	MAL Ret	BHR 4	CHN 4	ESP 3	MON 3	CAN 1	AUT 8	GBR 3	GER 6	HUN 1	BEL 1	ITA 5	SIN 3	JPN 4	RUS 7	USA 3	BRA Ret	ABU 4				3rd	238
2015	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Red Bull RB11	Renault Energy F1-2015 1.6 V6 t	AUS 6	MAL 10	CHN 9	BHR 6	ESP 7	MON 5	CAN 13	AUT 10	GBR Ret	HUN 3	BEL Ret	ITA 8	SIN 2	JPN 15	RUS 15†	USA 10	MEX 5	BRA 11	ABU 6				8th	92
2016	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull RB12	TAG Heuer 1.6 V6 t	AUS 4	BHR 4	CHN 4	RUS 11	ESP 4	MON 2	CAN 7	EUR 7	AUT 5	GBR 4	HUN 3	GER 2	BEL 2	ITA 5	SIN 2	MAL 1	JPN 6	USA 3	MEX 3	BRA 8	ABU 5		3rd	256
2017	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull RB13	TAG Heuer 1.6 V6 t	AUS Ret	CHN 4	BHR 5	RUS Ret	ESP 3	MON 3	CAN 3	AZE 1	AUT 3	GBR 5	HUN Ret	BEL 3	ITA 4	SIN 2	MAL 3	JPN 3	USA Ret	MEX Ret	BRA 6	ABU Ret			5th	200
2018	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	Red Bull RB14	TAG Heuer 1.6 V6 t	AUS 4	BHR Ret	CHN 1	AZE Ret	ESP 5	MON 1	CAN 4	FRA 4	AUT Ret	GBR 5	GER Ret	HUN 4	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	SIN 6	RUS 6	JPN 4	USA Ret	MEX Ret	BRA 4	ABU 4		6th	170
2019	Renault F1 Team	Renault R.S.19	Renault E-Tech 19 1.6 V6 t	AUS Ret	BHR 18†	CHN 7	AZE Ret	ESP 12	MON 9	CAN 6	FRA 11	AUT 12	GBR 7	GER Ret	HUN 14	BEL 14	ITA 4	SIN 14	RUS Ret	JPN DSQ	MEX 8	USA 6	BRA 6	ABU 11		9th	54
2020	Renault DP World F1 Team	Renault R.S.20	Renault E-Tech 20 1.6 V6 t	AUT Ret	STY 8	HUN 8	GBR 4	70A 14	ESP 11	BEL 4	ITA 6	TUS 4	RUS 5	EIF 3	POR 9	EMI 3	TUR 10	BHR 7	SKH 5	ABU 7						5th	119
2021	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren MCL35M	Mercedes M12 E Performance 1.6 V6 t	BHR 7	EMI 6	POR 9	ESP 6	MON 12	AZE 9	FRA 6	STY 13	AUT 7	GBR 5	HUN 11	BEL 4‡	NED 11	ITA 13	RUS 4	TUR 13	USA 5	MXC 12	SAP Ret		SAU 5	ABU 12	8th*	115*

^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
* Season still in progress.

Further reading

• Saunders, Nate (2018). Daniel Ricciardo: In Pursuit of Greatness. Richmond, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 9781743794715.

External links

• Official website
• Daniel Ricciardo career summary at DriverDB.com
• Daniel Ricciardo at IMDb
• Profile at Formula1.com
• Daniel Ricciardo on Twitter