With his sudden departure from Formula 1, Daniel Ricciardo has left a honey-badger-shaped hole in the hearts of many fans and the world of F1.
Ricciardo entered the world of Formula 1 in December 2009 when he test-drove for Red Bull at the Circuito de Jerez over the course of three days. On the last day of testing, he managed to clock the fastest time of the day by over a second. The time was enough to convince team principal Christian Horner to suggest Ricciardo as a substitute for Brendon Hartley as the test and reserve driver. It was confirmed that Ricciardo would be the test and reserve driver for Toro Rosso for the 2011 season.
After being the reserve driver for the 2011 season, Ricciardo finally made his debut in the 2012 season for Toro Rosso alongside his teammate Jean-Éric Vergne. He managed to score his first points in F1 at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix when he came in ninth place after overtaking his teammate in the last lap.
Courtesy of ausmotive.com
Ricciardo’s breakthrough of a season earned him a spot on the sister team, Red Bull, in which he replaced fellow Australian Mark Webber and became teammates with Sebastian Vettel. The 2014 season was a memorable one for Ricciardo as he was able to score his first podium at the Canadian Grand Prix and earn his first race win at the Hungarian Grand Prix. To further celebrate the memorable season, Ricciardo won the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year.
Courtesy of speedweek.com
Ricciardo’s career at Red Bull was a very successful one, which is why it was shocking to see his departure at the end of the 2018 season. After departing from the team, Ricciardo bounced around between the two different homes of Renault from 2019 through 2020 and McLaren from 2021 through 2022. These new homes would never be able to fill in the hole that was left by Red Bull, which is why he returned as a reserve driver for the team during the 2023 season.
Courtesy of racefans.net
Coming back to any sport after a year-long hiatus can be difficult for any athlete, no matter the sport. The 2024 season was a difficult one for Ricciardo to say the least. It wasn't until the Miami Grand Prix, the fifth race of the season where he was finally able to score some points for the Visa Cash App RB team. It seemed history would be repeating itself because after the Singapore Grand Prix, Ricciardo and the Visa Cash App RB team would be parting ways and Ricciardo would be replaced by reserve driver Liam Lawson for the rest of the season.
After an incredible eight race wins and 32 podiums later, the time has finally come to say goodbye to the honey badger and the honorary Texan that is Daniel Ricciardo. While it is almost certain that the world of Formula 1 will not be the same without the charismatic and bubbly personality that is Daniel Ricciardo, this is not a goodbye but simply “see you later” to the honey badger.
Edited by Madison Roost
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