Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo (born 1 July 1989 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian racing driver. He won the British Formula Three Championship in 2009. He currently races in  Formula 1 for McLaren.

Career

Formula Ford and Formula BMW 
Ricciardo started karting at the age of nine. In 2005, he entered the Western Australian Formula Ford championship. He drove a 15-year-old Van Diemen, and finished eighth by season's end. 

The next year, he won a scholarship to the Formula BMW Asian championship with Eurasia Motorsport. During his first season, Ricciardo earned a pole position and won twice. He finished third in the Drivers' Championship with 231 points, 59 points behind the champion.

In August 2006, Ricciardo  entered one race in the Formula BMW UK series. He finished eighth in the second race and took three championship points. At the end of the year, he entered the Formula BMW World Final Fortec Motorsport. He finished in fifth position, fourteen seconds behind the winner.

Formula Renault 
2007 saw the Australian moved to Formula Renault, entering the European and Italian championships. He finished the year seventh in the Italian series with 196 points and scoring a single podium at Valencia. He failed to score a point in his few starts in the European races.

Ricciardo stayed in Formula Renault for 2008, entering the European and Western European championships. By the end of the year, the he took his first European title in the Western European Cup and finished second in the Eurocup.

Formula Three 
During the middle of the 2008 season, Ricciardo made his Formula Three debut at the Nürburgring. He qualified in eighth for the first race. He was moved up to sixth in the race after James Jakes and Christian Vietoris stalled on the grid.

Ricciardo moved to the British Formula Three Championship for 2009, driving for Carlin Motorsport. He also made his debut in the 3.5-litre World Series by Renault championship. He retired from the first race, before finishing fifteenth in the second. When he returned to Formula Three, he extended his championship lead. Ricciardo became the first Australian driver since David Brabham in 1989 to win the British F3 title. He won the championship by 87 points.

Ricciardo continued with Carlin for the Macau Grand Prix with the team. He finished sixth in the qualifying race. He retired on the first lap of the main race after hitting the wall.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series 
On 30 October 2009, Ricciardo was signed by Tech 1 to compete in the 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season. He had 8 pole positions in the season, 4 wins, and finished the season second in the championship.

Ricciardo returned to the series in 2011 for ISR Racing

Formula One 

Ricciardo made his track debut at the wheel of a Formula One car in December 2009. He tested for Red Bull Racing at the young drivers test at Circuito de Jerez. On the final day of testing, Ricciardo had the fastest time of the test by more than one second. Ricciardo became one of the test and reserve drivers for both Red Bull Racing, and the sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso

In November 2010, Ricciardo was the only Red Bull Racing driver at the end-of-season young drivers test. Ricciardo dominated the event. His fastest lap was 1.3 seconds faster than Sebastian Vettel's qualifying lap the Saturday before. Ricciardo remained unbeaten in Formula One tests he has attended.

On 26 November 2010, Ricciardo was confirmed as Toro Rosso's test and reserve driver for the  season. He will take part in the first free practice session of each race weekend.

Racing record

Career summary 

 As a guest driver, Ricciardo was ineligible for points 
 Season in progress

Complete Formula Three Euroseries results 
(key)

† – As Ricciardo was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results 
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results 
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

 Season in progress.

References

Other websites 

Official website
Profile on Driver Database

1989 births
Living people
Australian racecar drivers
People from Perth, Western Australia
Sportspeople from Western Australia