For the first time in 11 years, Daniel Ricciardo will not be a regular fixture in a Formula One season when the 2023 campaign kicks off on March 5 in Bahrain.
The 33-year-old’s downfall in 2022 is a story well told. In truth, it started badly and failed to improve, forcing McLaren Racing to ax the popular Australian despite having a year remaining on his deal.
Ricciardo has since returned to Red Bull Racing as the team’s ‘third driver’ for the new campaign, acting as understudy to Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Daniel Ricciardo is preparing to sit out for a year after being a mainstay in Formula One
A return to the team where he enjoyed his greatest successes in sport should certainly lift his morale.
And when he sits back and reflects on his Formula One career this Christmas, with a glass of his very own DR3 red wine in hand, there will be plenty of highs and lows to mull over.
Sportsmail takes a look at Ricciardo’s best and worst moments in Formula One.
THE HIGHS
First win in Montreal
The first time is always special. Three years after making his Formula One debut, Ricciardo tasted his maiden victory in Montreal, where he took out the Canadian Grand Prix with Red Bull.
Ricciardo, then 24, qualified in P6 and had to contend with the all-conquering Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg locking out the front row.
However, what appeared to be a guaranteed one-two for the Silver Arrows soon developed into a thrilling contest.
Hamilton was forced to retire on lap 48 due to a brakes failure, allowing Ricciardo to roar into P2 behind Rosberg, having steadily climbed the field throughout the race.
Ricciardo’s first Formula One win came in 2014 when he triumphed at the Canadian Grand Prix
The Australian followed the safety car to victory after Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez crashed
With two laps remaining, the Australian was able to take the lead, and the timing of his late push could not have been more perfect. Felipe Massa and Perez crashed out on the penultimate lap, forcing the safety car to come out and allowing Ricciardo to coast over the line and take the checked flag.
‘Yeah, I’m still a bit in shock. Thanks everyone. This is ridiculous. Lots of Aussie flags, that’s nice,’ Ricciardo said after his first triumph.
‘It’s not that we were leading the whole race, so it’s not that I had time to understand that I was going to win, it all happened in the last few laps, so I think that’s why it’s still taking a while to comprehend in my head.
‘But really nice, a really good feeling. The race came to life at the end.’
Monza magic revives McLaren
From his premier win in Montreal, to his most recent victory in Monza, plenty transpired between 8 June 2014 and 12 September 2021 for Ricciardo.
A widely-supported move to McLaren – via Renault – was hoped to be the catalyst for Ricciardo’s flagging career, and while things didn’t work out for the 33-year-old, he can always take solace from delivering the team’s greatest result in recent years.
A crash between bitter title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen gave Ricciardo an opening to pounce, and he used all of his experience to take it home, with Lando Norris securing a one-two for McLaren.
It may not have gone to plan at McLaren, but Ricciardo delivered their best result in years
The Shoey
The name ‘Daniel Ricciardo’ triggers thoughts of that big, toothy grin, his radiant sense of humor and, of course, the shoey.
Ricciardo’s signature celebration – which involves him sipping champagne from a sweaty racing boot – first started at the German Grand Prix and the Australian has adopted the hygienically-questionable move ever since.
Even Lewis Hamilton joined in and treated himself to a shoey at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 2020.
Gerard Butler and Sir Patrick Stewart also had a taste of a shoey, while Australian UFC fighter Tai Tuivasa also performs the celebration after victories inside the Octagon.
Ricciardo introduced Formula One – and Lewis Hamilton – to the ‘shoey’ celebration
Delivery in Monaco
The thought of Monaco elicits feelings of despair and elation in equal measure for Ricciardo.
Back in 2016, bad luck destroyed his chance of victory at the iconic circuit, having taken poles for the race on the street circuit.
So when he topped the timesheet in qualifying two years later, Ricciardo was determined not to let this opportunity slip on a notorious track for providing limited chances to overtake.
The 33-year-old got redemption in Monaco, winning the grand prix back in 2018
Ricciardo put in his gutsiest performance to hold off Sebastian Vettel for 50 laps
Having comfortably led for 28 laps, crisis struck the Australian once again, when he discovered that his Red Bull was losing engine power and things looked pretty bleak when Christian Horner confirmed that there was no chance of the problem being fixed.
With 50 laps remaining, the likelihood of Ricciardo finishing on top of the podium were next to zilch. But what followed was the grittiest performance the 33-year-old has ever displayed, fighting off former teammate Sebastian Vettel to win at the iconic venue.
Zak Brown and Cyril Abiteboul ‘stamped for life’
Ricciardo’s stints at McLaren and Renault may not have had the happy ending that all parties desired, but at least the affable Aussie left an indelible mark on his two bosses after departing their respective paddocks.
During his time with Renault, team principle Cyril Abiteboul pledged to get a tattoo in the event that Ricciardo secured a podium for the team. Lo and behold, Ricciardo delivered on that bet at the Nurburgring Grand Prix in 2020.
McLaren boss Zak Brown, clearly having failed to learn from the Frenchman’s error, also took Ricciardo on in a wager, promising to get inked if he finished in the top three.
The Australian duly came through, of course, winning at Monza.
‘It’s a real thing. zak [Brown] and Cyril are now stamped for life,’ Ricciardo said. ‘It was good because a lot of people I think lost faith that it was ever going to happen but we got there, it was a good time.
‘There was definitely some negotiating – design, size and all those things – but actually in the end, pretty happy with the result,’ he added.
Triple overtake in Baku
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Daniel Ricciardo free of any inhibitions, committed to pushing the envelope and taking it to his rivals.
But if you need a reminder of Ricciardo’s undoubted quality, the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is the perfect place to start.
Sitting in P6 on a lap 22 red flag restarted, the Australian was launched forward by a huge tow from Lance Stroll, Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg and in one move, Ricciardo managed to pass all three rivals on turn 1 and put himself in third.
That was Ricciardo at the peak of his powers and his move in Baku is regarded as one of the best overtakes in modern Formula One history.
THE LOWS
Stripped of dream homecoming in Melbourne
Melbourne doesn’t hold too many happy memories for Daniel Ricciardo.
During his first season with Red Bull, Ricciardo finished on the front row alongside Lewis Hamilton, but was later disqualified because he exceeded the maximum fuel-flow rate of 100kg/h.
Despite passionate pleas from Horner and Red Bull, the FIA refused to budge and Ricciardo was denied a podium in his home nation.
His best finish at Albert Park was P6 back in 2015.
Ricciardo doesn’t have the best record in his home country and was denied a podium in 2015
A not-so-friendly wave from teammate Norris
We’re back at Monaco for another low point in Ricciardo’s career.
During his maiden season with McLaren, the 33-year-old was expected to be a senior mentor to young teammate Lando Norris, but it was the young gun who turned in the more impressive performances in the papaya.
The huge gap between Ricciardo and Norris was highlighted in Monaco, with the Briton lapping the Australian and even throwing a cheeky wave in his direction as he passed him.
It cannot have been warmly received.
The gulf between Ricciardo and Norris was clear for all to see at Monaco in 2021
Collision with Max in Baku
It’s hard to imagine Daniel Ricciardo having a frosty relationship with anybody, and away from the track the Australian is said to have been close friends with Max Verstappen, but during the 2018 season things were tense between the Red Bull duo.
Things reached boiling point at the same venue where RIcciardo executed his greatest overtake – Azerbaijan – 12 months on from that incredible move.
On lap 40, Ricciardo benefitted from a slipstream on his Dutch teammate and attempted to overtake, but Verstappen fought tooth and nail for the position and Ricciardo ended up going into the back of his fellow Red Bull.
It was the beginning of the end for Ricciardo at Red Bull after Azerbaijan in 2018
Ricciardo and Verstappen collided and Red Bull sided with the young Dutchman
The pair were sent spinning off the track, leaving Horner furious. Both drivers were penalized by the FIA as a result.
That heated moment was the beginning of the end for Ricciardo at Red Bull, with the Australian frustrated that his team did not side with him in the aftermath.
McLaren axing
There can be no sugarcoating it – having your contract terminated a year before its conclusion is nothing short of a failure.
Yes, Ricciardo delivered in Monza but having left a mid-table car where he performed very well, the 33-year-old stagnated and later declined in the papaya, much to the surprise of fans, the team and himself.
The rumor mill was in full swing from the very beginning of the 2022 season, with reports suggesting that McLaren were surveying their options, and it came as no surprise when the team confirmed Ricciardo’s exit midway through the campaign.
