Daniel Ricciardo: How shy Aussie kid became F1 golden boy

The American Grand Prix in 2006 featured everyone from the artist Amanda Bynes to the Dutch Prime Minister, a 70s music star, and the classic Blue Wiggle stepping pit lane, as usual.

Unnoticed in a spot, making small talk with European drivers Jarno Trulli and previous Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins, was none other than 16-year-old Daniel Ricciardo.

The Perth son had already secured a race ticket after winning the previous year’s American go-karting champion, but things changed on that fateful day in April.

Remo Luciani, a family friend and mentor, jokes that it was Hawkins who made the joke:” He was essentially drooling.”

The quiet youth, however, had his first real flavor of the existence he was fervently pursuing while rub shoulders with Formula 1 stars and hearing the rumbling sound of their engines.

” I think he saw the photo- ‘ this is where I belong, this is what I want to perform ‘”, Luciani tells the BBC.

Fast forward a few years and he’d not only be part of that world, but” a major personality” in it.

But after 13 times in the game – with an outstanding 257 races, 32 championships, and eight wins – his F1 occupation came to an end next year, after Red Bull dropped him from its staff.

He emerges as the most eminently successful and well-known driver on the circuits and as the “golden boy” of American motorsport.

From the moment his motorsport-mad parents let him on a go-kart record as a nine-year-old, Ricciardo has been making an impression.

” There’s those who get it at that age, and those that do n’t, and he got it pretty quickly”, Tiger Kart Club stalwart John Wishart says.

Ricciardo immediately established himself as a quick but trustworthy competitor with an upbeat personality and ferocious aggressive spirit, a reputation he has cherished his entire career.

Former friend of Lewis Shugar tells the BBC,” What you see on Daniel’s Television today, he was exactly the same as a kid.”

” He was always laughing and having a good time, and if things did n’t go right for him, he still had a smile on his face”, Wishart says. ” That in itself is a unique skill”.

Talk of his claim spread to the eastern coast as he began to win races all over Western Australia.

Ricciardo immediately enlisted in Remo Racing, a self-styled growth team led by Luciani in Victoria.

” He was a very, very fast person, and he was determined. He wanted to always move faster. Luciani, a racing tale and inductee into the American Motorsport Hall of Fame, says,” I could see the appetite in him.”

Ricciardo won his first race for the group in 2005, where he later won the national go-karting tournament, and continued to compete in his native state in Formula Ford.

And with that, he was on his approach abroad – a “big walk” that Ricciardo has said” changed everything”.

Each new season brought a new challenge. In 2006 he raced in Asia, before moving to Italy the year after, finally signing to the Red Bull development initiative as a” nervous” and “immature” 18-year-old in 2008.

” Having that duty, that force, all of that, it forced me to develop up”, he told CNN Sport earlier this month.

In 2011 he made his long-awaited grand prix comeback at Derby, on payment to Spanish group HRT, thrilling his followers back home.

One described him as beating one-in-10-million conflict.

” To stay in an F1 vehicle is something that almost anyone will ever do, so even to have that chance is incredible,” Shugar says.

Ricciardo, however, was not happy with just any location on the network, and by 2014, he had earned a contact up to the main Red Bull team in place of Mark Webber, his countryman’s compatriot.

” I’m ready”, Ricciardo declared at the time:” I’m not here to run around in 10th place”.

He lived up to his word and won three races that time, far exceeding Sebastian Vettel’s colleague and defending hero.

He became known as the” Honey Badger” after four years at Red Bull, despite his charming demeanor and deadly race intuition.

His” those fantastic late-braking maneuvers that may find individuals by surprise” were his brand, American F1 blogger Michael Lamonato told the BBC.

He’s always said he wanted a popularity that made him feared when other drivers saw him in their reflections, and I believe he actually did that.

His off-the-wall reputation was also rising, even before the popular Netflix series Drive to Survive elevated F1 to new heights of admiration.

According to Lamonato,” Daniel was one of the heroes that was beginning to overcome the sport.”

His signature shoey celebration – which is credited with popularising the practice in Australia – memeable media sound bites and humorous stunts have enamoured him to legions the world over.

Issy Futcher, a fan of Melbournian, says,” He seems like a partner, someone you could make friends with at the pub.”

” He’s made for this kind of stardom”.

Two times after a botched trap stop at the same circuit saw his job at its zenith when he defended his prospect for 50 rounds in Monaco in 2018 while battling a failing website.

” This was a redemption race … it really is his defining win”, Lamonato says.

However, he was left struggling in 2023 and returned to the broader Red Bull slide as a supply drivers following his disastrous goes to Renault in 2019 and McLaren in 2021, where he struggled to recreate his past success.

He rejoined the young starting lineup in its now-named RB group way through the season, but his form never recovered after being severely injured in 2024.

Rumors started to spread, and the reading was clearly on the wall when the Singapore Grand Prix arrived on September 22. In one final gasp, Ricciardo was given a brand-new set of tires and the fastest lap of the competition.

After finishing next, the 35-year-old lingered in the aircraft for a hit.

In a sad post-race meeting, Ricciardo said he was battling a lot of thoughts.

” I’m conscious it could be it”, he said. ” I just wanted to taste the time”.

He told Sky Sports that he was “at peacefulness” with his impending fate and that he just wanted to return to the network if he could earn podiums.

Days later, Red Bull confirmed he would be replaced for the rest of the season by young Kiwi Liam Lawson – news that stirred outrage and cries of mistreatment.

Group director Christian Horner said Ricciardo’s stats and accolades were n’t the only measure of his accomplishment.

” From the moment you arrived at Red Bull, it became clear that you were much more than just a vehicle.” Your regular joy, sense of humour and approach will leave an unforgettable legacy”, he said.

Amid a wave of tributes from his contemporaries, Ricciardo said it had been a “wild and great” trip.

” I’ve loved this sport my whole life … It’ll always have its highs and lows, but it’s been fun and truth be told I would n’t change it”, he wrote on Instagram.

” Until the next experience”.

While the details of that subsequent trip are eagerly awaited, Lamonato claims Ricciardo has already established himself as one of the most underappreciated F1 drivers.

” Daniel Ricciardo has enormous potential, but he suffered what so many do, career bad turns,” is the best way to sum up.

Just nine drivers have started more races in his long career, and his victories and podiums both rank him among the top 40 drivers ever, which is particularly amazing considering that all of these feats were accomplished without the dominant team of the time.

And his reputation is now felt in Australia, where driving experts claim he has sparked the rise in grassroots racing participation and the emergence of the next generation of Asian sporting stars like Oscar Piastri and Jack Doohan.

Statistically, Ricciardo will be the fourth most successful Australian to have raced F1, but many think he’ll be remembered as the greatest.

Lamonato claims that” I do n’t think anyone will have had an impact similar to him in terms of bringing the sport to the audience.”

” ] He] did Australia proud”, Luciani concludes.