Daniel Ricciardo

**Daniel Joseph Ricciardo** is an Italian-Australian racing driver who is competing in Formula 1.5, under the Australian flag, for AlphaTauri. 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.

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 which compeated in Formula One.

After 2018, Ricciardo signed with Renault and has raced for them in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He signed to McLaren for the 2021 and 2022 Formula 1.5 seasons alongside Lando Norris. At the end of the 2022 Season Ricciardo was dropped by McLaren, and was left without a seat for the 2023 season. However Nyck De Vries was dropped from the AlphaTauri team after the British GP when Ricciardo was re-hired at the team.

## Personal Life

Daniel Joseph Ricciardo was born on 1 July 1989 in Perth, Western Australia, to Italian parents of Ficarra born father Giuseppe "Joe" Ricciardo and Australian born mother Grace, with parents originally from 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 own 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.

## F1.5 Career

### **HRT (2011)**

#### **2011 Season**

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. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Ricciardo finished 15th.

### **Toro Rosso (2012-2013)**

#### **2012 Season**

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 third place, securing his first two World Championship points and maiden podium.

In wet conditions in Malaysia he finished 7th, after having been first to switch to slick tyres. In Bahrain he qualified well, But dropped back during the race and finished 8th. In Monaco he suffered his only retirement of the season. Daniel went on to get two more podiums in the season, finishing 3rd at Singapore and Korea.

Daniel finished the season in 8th in the Drivers Championship with 163 points.

#### **2013 Season**

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

Ricciardo out-scored his teammate Jean-Éric Vergne 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 for the 2014 season.

2013 was a strong year for Daniel, however it started rough with a retirment at his home grand prix in Australia and an 11th place finish in Malaysia. At the third race, in China, Daniel took his maiden pole position which transpired to a personal best finish of 2nd place. For the second season in a row, Daniel failed to finish the Monaco Grand Prix.

At Britain, Daniel took pole which, just like his last one in China, meant he finished 2nd. Daniel went on to take pole position at the next 2 races after that aswell finishing 5th and 6th respectivley. After the summer break Daniel finished 3rd in Belgium and 2nd in Italy which would be his final podium of the season.

Daniel then retired from the Singapore GP, and finished 12th at Korea. He then finished in the points for the final 5 races. He finished the season 6th in the championship with 153 points.

### **Red Bull (2015)**

#### **2015 Season**

Following a promotion to Red Bull in 2014, Daniel raced in F1, however due to poor car performance, the Red Bull team was demoted to F1.5. 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.

The season started with a podium finish for Daniel in Australia after finishing 3rd, he then went on to take pole position at the next event however he slipped down the field to 6th place by the end of the race. Daniel went on a 3 race podium streak from Bahrain, scoring 2nd in Bahrain, 3rd in Spain and then 2nd again in Monaco where he also took pole and fastest lap. The Australian then struggled the next few races finishing 9th and 7th at Canda and Austria, where he was held back by the engine. Things only got worse for him at the next race, which ended with retirment. The final race before the summer break saw Daniel take pole position for the third time this season, but he still couldn't claim the illusive win, finishing 2nd.

After the summer break Daniel retired from the Belgian GP and only finished 5th at Monza for the Italian GP. The next race was Sinapore, a track which should suit the Red Bull chassis. Daniel took pole and the fastest lap at the Singapore GP on his way to take his first F1.5 win. After Singapore it wasn't plain sailing as he finished out of the points at the next 2 races. Daniel finished a dissapointing 7th at the USA after starting from pole position. At Mexico, Daniel took his first podium since the Singapore win with a third place finish. Brazil saw the Australian finish 7th before the final round saw him finish 2nd.

Daniel finished the season 5th in the championship, behind teammate Kvyat, with 190 points.

### **Renault (2019-2020)**

#### **2019 Season**

On 3 August 2018, it was announced that Ricciardo had signed a two-year contract to drive for Renault. 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. Things looked to be on the up at the Chinese GP after he qualified on pole and then went to take his first win for the Renault team. However, Ricciardo failed to finish the next race at Azerbaijan, when 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. Ricciardo then went on to finish the next 6 races, all within the top 6, which included a win at Canada and 2nd place at Silverstone. Ricciardo then suffered an exhaust failure at the German Grand Prix.

Italy saw Daniel take pole, and win with the fastest lap, where teammate Nico Hulkenberg finished 2nd to make it a Renault 1-2. Ricciardo was involved in a first-lap collision in Russia, leading to his eventual retirement. He was initially classified in Japan, before both Renault cars were disqualified ten days later for using illegal driver aids. After Japan, Ricciardo finished Mexico in second and then winning in the USA.

Ricciardo finished the championship in 4th place with 208 points.

#### **2020 Season**

On 29 August 2019, it was announced that Hülkenberg would be replaced at Renault for the 2020 season, and that Ricciardo would partner former Force India driver and Mercedes reserve Esteban Ocon.

The season started in Austria, after the calendar was revamped due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. At Austria, Daniel retired fromt the race with a technichal issue on the car, however he went on to finish every race after that in the season. At round two in Styria and in Hungary, Ricciardo came home just off the podium in P4.

At the British Grand Prix, Ricciardo finished P2, after Sainz who was ahead of him got a late puncture, and then Ricciardo overtook the other McLaren of Lando Norris on the final lap. At the next race, Daniel had a dissapointing 10th place finish and then only finished 7th in Spain. Daniel took his first pole position of the season at Belgium, and he turned that in to a race victory for the first time in 2020 with the fastest lap. Daniel would then go on to take another win just 2 rounds later at the Tuscan Grand Prix. The following race at Russia saw him finish on the podium in 2nd place, and then again for the third time in a row at the next round in Germany, where he won the race. After a dissapointing race at Portugal, Daniel found himself on the top step once more at the Emilia Romagna grand prix.

Going into the final round, Daniel was leading the championship by just 9 points over Sergio Perez. Perez retired from the final race with engine trouble, whilst Daniel finished third to take his final podium for the Renault team.

Daniel took his maiden Formula 1.5 Drivers Championship with 235 points.

After two years at Renault, Ricciardo joined McLaren for the 2021 Formula One World Championship as a replacement for Carlos Sainz Jr.

### **McLaren (2021-2022)**

#### **2021 Season**

Ricciardo joined the McLaren team in 2021, entering the season as the regining world champion.

The season got off to a steady start in Bahrain with a P3 finish, behind teammate Norris and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. The team blamed damage sustained on the opening lap, for a lack of pace compared to Norris. In Imola, it was a P4 finish in a wet to dry race, which saw the McLaren team give team-orders to Ricciardo to move out of the way of Norris, who would eventually go on to win the race. In Portugal, it would a be fith place finish, but at Spain, things looked up. Spain saw Ricciardo finish second place, whilst teammate Norris finished seventh.

In Monaco, things didn't go well at all for the 2020 World Champion, where he finished 9th and was lapped by teammate Lando Norris who finished 2nd. The result also saw Ricciardo drop outside the top 3 in the drivers standings, behind Carlos Sainz. A frantic race at Baku saw more results which were not showing his or the cars capability finishing 8th. At France, Ricciardo pulled together a strong performance to finish 2nd behind teammate Lando Norris to bring home McLaren's first 1-2 finish of the season. Two races later at the Austrian Grand Prix, he would finish third to bring home another double podium for the team. He would go on to win the Italian Grand Prix, which was his only win of the season.

Ricciardo finished the season in 5th place in the driver standings with 220 points, whilst teammate Norris won the championship with 325 points.

#### 2022 Season

Ricciardo missed the final day of the 2022 pre-season test in Bahrain, due to a positive COVID-19 test on 11 March. He was released from isolation in time for the opening race of the season, on 20 March. He took his first podium of the season at his home race in Australia. In the build up to the Monaco Grand Prix Ricciardo was criticised for his early season performance relative to team mate Lando Norris by McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown in an interview Brown gave to Sky Sports F1 stating Ricciardo's poor early season results had "not met his [Ricciardo's] or our expectations." Going in to the summer break Ricciardo was 5th in the drivers standings, whilst Norris was leading. The gap between them was 115 points.

On return to the sport after the summer break at Belgium, Ricciardo and McLaren announced that they mutally agreed to end Ricciardo's contract early at the end of the year.

> *"Following several months of discussions with Zak & Andreas we have decided to terminate my contract with the team early and agree to mutually part ways at the end of this season." - Daniel Ricciardo*
>
>

Ricciardo returned to the podium in the Singapore GP to round out a McLaren 1-2, after failing to finish the Italian GP whilst running second. At the Japanese GP Ricciardo confirmed he wouldn't be racing in 2023. At the Mexican Grand Prix, Ricciardo took his final win of his career after making his way up the order and even serving a 10 second penalty.

Ricciardo finished the year 6th in the standings on 164 points, having been outcored by Lando Norris by 207 points.

### AlphaTauri (2023)

#### 2023 Season

Nyck de Vries was released from his AlphaTauri seat after the 2023 British Grand Prix. The same day Ricciardo drove the Red Bull RB19 in the Pirelli tyre tests, and it was announced that he would fill the vacant seat, making his return to the AlphaTauri team and to Formula 1.5 for the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Daniel's return to racing in Hungary saw him finish 5th, after a first lap incident dropped him down to last. His teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished the race in 7th.

During the second free practice of the Dutch Grand Prix, Ricciardo broke a metacarpal bone in his hand in seven places, preventing him from competing for the rest of the weekend. Liam Lawson replaced Ricciardo, making his F1.5 debut. Riccardo's injury forced him to miss the next 5 rounds in Italy, Singapore, Japan and Qatar with Lawson replacing him for all 5 of those races but he returned for the United States Grand Prix.

Upon returning to racing he finished 10th to score one point in Austin. At the next race Ricciardo stormed to pole position, his first since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. Ricciardo would finish the race second. At the final race in Abu Dhabi, Ricciardo finished fourth behind Tsunoda in third to get AlphaTauri third in the constructors championship.

Ricciardo finished the season with 70 points in 12th place having taken part in 7 races over the season.