Daniel Ricciardo’s soft landing: life, business and the final sign he’s not coming back
If you were waiting for one last Ricciardo twist, you’ve already missed it. The Honey Badger slipped out of Formula 1 the way he often slipped past rivals at his peak — decisively, then gone. His final outing came at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. He climbed from the car having just punched in the fastest lap, a fleeting flourish that felt very Ricciardo: a wink, not a wave.
The coda to his F1 story started well before Marina Bay. After McLaren bought out his contract at the end of 2022 to make way for Oscar Piastri, Ricciardo retreated to Red Bull as third driver. A sharp mid-season test at Silverstone in 2023 opened the door at AlphaTauri and he was back on the grid in Hungary. Then came Zandvoort and a broken metacarpal in his left hand, five races on the sidelines, and a run to the end of the year that was enough to earn a full-time seat for 2024 with the rebranded RB squad.
The larger aim was clear: get close enough to Sergio Perez to re-ignite a Red Bull return. That didn’t come. Perez extended, the path closed, and after Singapore 2024 he made way for Liam Lawson. The rumours churned anyway — could Cadillac tempt him, could a seat open up? — but Ricciardo said it plainly by year’s end: “I’m done.” No hedging, no “never say never.”
His 2025 has told the same story. He’s been busy, just not with lap time. Enchanté, the lifestyle brand that started as a tongue-in-cheek passion project, got a fresh lick of paint and even returned to the paddock in May as a partner of RB. He launched a tailgate venture in the U.S. with betting firm Dabble — peak Ricciardo energy, that — and then made the biggest, clearest move of all in September: a new role as a global racing ambassador for Ford, which came packaged with the formality everyone had been dancing around. Retirement. Full stop.
Then he handed over the number.
F1’s permanent race numbers are held for two seasons after a driver leaves, a thin line to a comeback if the itch returns. Ricciardo’s beloved 3 — a lifetime nod to Dale Earnhardt — was set to sit on the shelf until the end of 2026. In December, Max Verstappen announced he’d switch to 3 with Ricciardo’s blessing after surrendering the World Champion’s 1. That was the tell. You don’t loan out your number if you’re plotting a return.
It doesn’t mean he’s vanished. He’s been around, just not centre stage. He ghosted into Albert Park in March to watch his home grand prix without the circus, then popped up in Austin — the same weekend he once arrived on horseback — to soak in the atmosphere he clearly still enjoys. He’s kept the throttle light elsewhere too: some time on his farm back home, a bigger beard than any race engineer would allow, and a minor dirt bike spill in August that earned a precautionary hospital visit and not much more.
If you’re looking for the competitive outlet, it’s there, it’s just pointing outward. The Daniel Ricciardo Series continued its karting push through the European summer, and Ricciardo’s crew committed to placing two young drivers, aged 14–17, into the Ginetta Junior Championship on scholarship. That’s a tangible hand-up, not just a logo on a kart.
He’s also been unusually candid about what comes after the thing that’s defined you since childhood. Speaking in Australia at Ray White’s Connect conference, he leaned into the normal stuff F1 drivers often forget how to do: sitting still, listening, hiking without a stopwatch. “This year has been a bit of self-exploration. I lived this crazy high-speed life for so long, and this year I’ve sat into a little bit of stillness,” he said, cracking that the beard had become his “comfort.” He joked about a recent trip to Alaska — “didn’t get mauled by a grizzly, which was a bonus” — but the note he hit most was perspective. Family and friends. Being less selfish. Becoming a better listener.
It wasn’t the fairy-tale finish he imagined; it rarely is in this sport. Singapore tugged at his heartstrings, he admitted, and you sense the goodbye felt louder to everyone watching than it did inside his helmet. But it was tidy. It was his call. And it leaves his nine wins, his late-braking legend and that eternal grin where they belong — not as a campaign for one more year, but as a complete arc that ended on his terms.
Drivers don’t always get that. Ricciardo did. And with Verstappen taking the 3 and the Ford ambassadorship locked in, the message is clear: the Honey Badger isn’t hunting apexes anymore. He’s just living. And for once, he’s not in a hurry.
