Daniel Ricciardo

Biography of Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo is a hugely popular Australian F1 driver currently racing for AlphaTauri.

Born on July 1, 1989, in Perth, Australia, Ricciardo is now 35 years of age and one of the most experienced drivers on the grid.

He enjoyed a successful spell with Red Bull to really announce himself as one of the best drivers around, before moving on to Renault, McLaren, and then AlphaTauri.

Daniel stands at a height of 5 feet, 10.5 inches tall (1.79m).

Daniel Ricciardo in F1

Daniel Ricciardo made his Formula 1 debut with the back-of-the-grid HRT team in 2011, replacing Narain Karthikeyan at the British Grand Prix as Red Bull, with which he was a test and reserve driver, looked for the Australian to gain experience.

Results never set the world alight with the slowest car on the grid, but his progress was enough to get the call up to Toro Rosso for 2012.

Points followed on his debut for the team, with a last-lap overtake on teammate Jean-Eric Vergne at the Australian Grand Prix enough to earn him ninth and his first two points in F1. An impressive qualifying performance in Bahrain, where he finished sixth before dropping back on race day, caught the eye, while his only retirement was at Monaco on the way to finishing the season in 18th with 10 points.

His tally doubled in 2013, highlighted by two seventh-place finishes at the Chinese and Italian Grands Prix. His performances across his two seasons with Toro Rosso were enough for him to be chosen to replace fellow countryman Mark Webber at Red Bull following his retirement.
Ricciardo's first race with the parent team couldn't have gone much better, or so he initially thought. After taking a superb second place in front of his home crowd, he was disqualified for a fuel-flow infringement.

A retirement followed in Malaysia, but three consecutive third-place finishes sparked his season into life before Ricciardo took advantage of issues for both dominant Mercedes at the Canadian Grand Prix to take a sensational maiden F1 victory.

Two more victories in Hungary and Belgium boosted Ricciardo to third in the standings, ahead of four-time champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel who left the team at the end of the season.

For 2015, Ricciardo became team leader alongside Daniil Kvyat, but a difficult season yielded just two podium finishes as Red Bull and Renault continued to struggle to adapt to the turbo-Hybrid era. Eighth in the standings was a clear step backward.

Another new team-mate arrived just five rounds into the 2016 season as Max Verstappen replaced Kvyat in the second seat. A single victory and seven podiums sufficed for Ricciardo to return to his 'best of the rest' standing behind the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

A victory in each of the next two seasons kept his tally rolling, but there was trouble in paradise. A perceived bias towards Verstappen within the team reared an ugly head at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2018, where the two collided, leading Ricciardo to jump ship at the end of the year.

Whilst the switch to Renault provided a fresh start for Ricciardo, the manufacturer's power unit issues gave the same results. Four retirements were compounded by a disqualification in Japan after finishing sixth.

The highlight of 2019 was a fourth at the Italian Grand Prix, but ninth in the drivers' standings with just 54 points was not what he was hoping for after the switch from Red Bull.

2020 was, however, a different story. Seven top-five finishes, including two podiums at the Eifel and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix, earned Ricciardo fifth in the drivers' standings in one of the most hotly contested midfield battles in modern F1.

Despite a slow start to life at McLaren, Ricciardo found his feet as the year progressed to at least challenge team-mate Norris through the second half of the year.

The Australian bagged McLaren's first victory since 2012 at the Italian Grand Prix with a commanding drive, proving the talent was there to be unlocked once more.

Hopes of a brighter 2022 under new aerodynamic regulations never materialised, however, with McLaren taking the decision to axe Ricciardo with a year remaining on a three-year contract.

The Australian then accepted a reserve role with Red Bull for 2023, with a view to returning to a race seat in 2024.

However, due to the poor performance of Nyck de Vries from AlphaTauri, Ricciardo's opportunity to return to the grid came earlier than expected.

It was announced that Ricciardo would take over the AlphaTauri seat from the Hungarian Grand Prix until the end of the 2023 season.

But just two races into his new position, Ricciardo had to temporarily give up his seat to reserve driver Liam Lawson after breaking his hand during a free practice session in the Netherlands.

This unfortunate accident forced Ricciardo out of Italy, Singapore, Japan, and Qatar, but he eventually returned for the United States Grand Prix and reclaimed his seat for the remainder of the season.

At the Japanese Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Ricciardo would be driving for the Italian team in the 2024 season alongside Yuki Tsunoda, which was great news for the Aussie, who had a challenging season and only managed to secure 6 points, finishing in the 17th position in the drivers' standings.

Net worth Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo Net Worth

As ever, a driver's contract with a team is strictly confidential, with no public insight into the intricacies of the deal.

However, it is rumoured that Ricciardo's salary at AlphaTauri is $2 million, which is a significant decrease from his previous contract with McLaren, which was thought to be worth between £25 and $30 million.

Daniel Ricciardo Girlfriend

Ricciardo is believed to be dating Heidi Berger, the daughter of former F1 star Gerhard Berger.

Daniel Ricciardo Family

As the name suggests, Daniel was born to Italian-Australian parents in the shape of Joe and Grace Ricciardo.

The Australian star has one sister, Michelle Ricciardo.

Daniel is also godfather to one of the children of Sky Sports F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham.

Daniel Ricciardo Helmet

Never one to be traditional, Ricciardo has sported a range of designs over the years, often promoting a variety of causes.