Daniel Ricciardo

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Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( , ; born 1 July 1989) is an Australian racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed " the Honey Badger", Ricciardo won eight Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons.

Born and raised in Perth to Italian-Australian parents, Ricciardo began competitive kart racing aged nine. Graduating to junior formulae in 2005, Ricciardo debuted in his regional Formula Ford championship. He won his first title at the 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 WEC with SG Formula, before winning the 2009 British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin. He then progressed to Formula Renault 3.5, finishing runner-up to Mikhail Aleshin by two points in his rookie season. Ricciardo made his Formula One debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with HRT as part of the Red Bull Junior Team, replacing Narain Karthikeyan for the remainder of . He earned a full-time drive with Toro Rosso in and alongside Jean-Éric Vergne, scoring several points finishes in each. Ricciardo was promoted to Red Bull in , replacing the retiring Mark Webber to partner defending four-time World Drivers' Champion Sebastian Vettel.

In his first season with Red Bull under Renault power, Ricciardo finished third in the championship, taking his maiden victory at the , with further wins in Hungary and Belgium. After a winless campaign for Red Bull, he took his maiden pole position in Monaco and won the in , clinching third overall again. He took further wins for Red Bull at the in , as well as the Chinese and Monaco Grands Prix in . Ricciardo signed with Renault in , finishing a season-best fourth in Italy. He retained his seat for his campaign, achieving multiple podiums and finishing fifth overall. He then joined McLaren in to partner Lando Norris, achieving his only victory and podium for the team at the . Following inconsistent performances, Ricciardo left McLaren at the end of and returned to Red Bull as a reserve driver in . From the onwards, he replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri; he retained his seat for their campaign as RB, but was replaced by Liam Lawson after the .

Ricciardo achieved race wins, pole positions, fastest laps, and podiums in Formula One. Ricciardo was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Australia Day Honours.

Towards the end of the 2005 season, Ricciardo took a leased 13-year-old Van Diemen across to Sandown Raceway in Melbourne to compete at the national Formula Ford series, but his aging car was uncompetitive, and he finished 16th, 17th and retired during the weekend's three races.

That year, Ricciardo was more successful in karts, in which he was crowned the Australian champion. His prizes for the win included a pass to the 2006 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne, where the then-16-year-old savoured a taste of his own future by chatting unnoticed with Italian driver Jarno Trulli and Miss Universe 2004, Jennifer Hawkins.

After finishing sixth in 2007 Formula Renault 2.0 Italia, Ricciardo was selected by Red Bull Junior Team.

Ricciardo moved to the British Formula 3 Championship for the 2009 season driving for Carlin Motorsport. Ricciardo continued his partnership with Carlin by heading to the Macau Grand Prix with the team.

Following a minor incident during a mountain bike exercise, Ricciardo was forced to miss the second test of the 2010 season but went on to take pole position for both races at the season-opening round of the 2010 season in Alcañiz, Spain. He finished third and second in the races respectively, to leave himself at the head of the championship standings. Two weeks later, at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Ricciardo was relegated to last on the grid after being deemed to have hindered the laps of other drivers. In the next two races, he finished 13th and fifth respectively – coming 2nd in the latter, until many of the front-runners were given penalties for infringing the parc ferme rules before the race. One week later, in Monte Carlo, Ricciardo secured his third pole position of the season, finishing three-tenths of a second ahead of championship rival Stefano Coletti. He secured his first win at the following race, one place ahead of Coletti. Ricciardo went on to secure two more wins at the Hungaroring and at the Hockenheimring in commanding fashion. Following Ricciardo's sixth pole from 12 races, Tech 1 team boss, Simon Abadie, praised his driver's efforts greatly, saying, "I am happy, and happy for Daniel because six poles in 12 races is good going," and later stated his team's ambitions for success, by telling Autosport correspondent Peter Mills, "I really hopes Daniel wins the championship."

At the first race at the Silverstone circuit, Ricciardo was involved in a spectacular incident with pole-sitter Jon Lancaster, in which Ricciardo was sent into a barrel roll, eventually landing on his wheels. The crash saw the end of his race, with teammate Jean-Éric Vergne becoming the eventual winner, following disqualifications. Securing pole for the second race of the weekend, Ricciardo spent much of the race leading the pack by upwards of three seconds. However, braking issues in the second half of the event meant that, on the final lap, championship-rival Esteban Guerrieri was able to pass the Tech 1 racer.

Going into the final round of the season, Ricciardo sat just three points behind championship leader Mikhail Aleshin and 13 ahead of third-place man Esteban Guerrieri. Managing his 8th pole of the season, Ricciardo managed a lights-to-flag victory, setting the fastest lap and placing himself equal first with one race remaining. After securing second place on the grid for the second race of the weekend, Ricciardo managed to hold position until the pit stops, where he was successfully 'jumped' by two of his rivals, including teammate Vergne. With only two laps left in the race and struggling for pace, Ricciardo was overtaken by championship rival Aleshin. Finishing in that order, Ricciardo failed to secure the title in his debut year, losing out to Mikhail Aleshin by only two points.

In 2011 Ricciardo raced for ISR Racing prior to his HRT call-up.

On 11 November 2010, Ricciardo was confirmed as the single driver to represent Red Bull Racing at the end-of-season young driver's test at the Yas Marina Circuit, on 16–17 November. Ricciardo continued to show his one-lap prowess and dominated the event, with his fastest lap being 1.3 seconds faster than World Champion Sebastian Vettel's qualifying lap the Saturday before.

Days later, Ricciardo was confirmed as Toro Rosso's test and reserve driver for the season and would take part in the first free practice session of each race weekend. Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal stated that "having a hungry youngster on the books will keep our current driver pairing nice and sharp", referring to then Toro Rosso drivers Jaime Alguersuari and Sébastien Buemi.

However, on 22 October 2011, a few days before the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, the race where Karthikeyan was due to gain back his seat for his home race, HRT F1 announced that Vitantonio Liuzzi made way for Karthikeyan, allowing Ricciardo to race in India and extend his learning curve that Red Bull Racing paid the struggling Spanish team to do, as well as allowing Karthikeyan to race in front of his home fans. In Abu Dhabi, Ricciardo retired with mechanical problems after starting 20th on the grid, and in the final race at the , Ricciardo finished 20th after starting 22nd on the grid.

At the Australian Grand Prix on 18 March, Ricciardo managed to overtake his teammate Vergne late on the last lap to come home in ninth place, securing his first two World Championship points.

In wet conditions in Malaysia, he finished 12th, after having been first to switch to slick tyres. In Bahrain, he qualified sixth, but dropped back during the race and finished 15th. In Monaco, he suffered his only retirement of the season, after having started from 15th position. Ricciardo would score points again only after the summer break, at the , where he started from 16th and finished ninth. He also had a run of three consecutive points scores from the Singapore to the . He scored one more points finish in Abu Dhabi for the year, ending tenth. Ricciardo finished 18th in the championship, with 10 points.

He began the year by not finishing the opening two rounds, both due to exhaust issues. In China, Ricciardo scored his first points of the year after finishing seventh, claiming his best finish in F1 by far. He finished tenth at the , following a slow start from 11th on the grid. Ricciardo again was unable to finish the after Romain Grosjean crashed into the back of him, damaging his rear wing. At the , Ricciardo had his best qualifying yet in fifth. He finished the race in eighth place.

Ricciardo once again finished seventh at the , having held off Grosjean in the dying laps. More tenth places followed at India and the . Ricciardo out-scored his teammate by seven points and out-qualified him for over three-quarters of the season. His impressive qualifying efforts of 30–7 against Vergne over their two years together helped promote him to Toro Rosso senior team, Red Bull, replacing fellow countryman Mark Webber. Ricciardo finished 13th in the championship with 20 points.

Ricciardo failed to finish in the , but managed to record his first points of the 2014 season at the , where he finished fourth, after starting in 13th position. He finished fourth again at the . Ricciardo would not wait long for his first podium, securing third place at the . Monaco saw Ricciardo qualify in third, behind both Mercedes cars. After dropping to fifth early on, he regained third after problems for teammate Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen. He narrowly lost to Lewis Hamilton to second place by 0.4 seconds.

At the , Ricciardo leaped from sixth on the grid to third during the pit stops, and in the last four laps, he overcame Sergio Pérez and Nico Rosberg to take his first win of his career. By winning, Ricciardo became the fourth Australian to win a Grand Prix in Formula One, joining Jack Brabham, Alan Jones and Mark Webber. His victory in Canada broke the chain of six Mercedes victories that marked the beginning of the 2014 season. Ricciardo impressed many by beating Vettel throughout the first half of the 2014 season, and after a clean and tight battle between Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso at the , Alonso described Ricciardo as "unbelievable" and "very, very smart, very respectful".

Ricciardo won the on 27 July, ahead of Alonso and Hamilton having started fourth. He was in third place behind Alonso and Hamilton with less than four laps remaining and overtook Hamilton's Mercedes with a pass on the outside of the Hungaroring's turn two. He then easily caught and passed Alonso's Ferrari, as Alonso had very little grip left on his tyres – television footage of his left front tyre after the race showed it to be badly blistered. In the final two laps, Ricciardo pulled away to win the race by 5.225 seconds. His teammate Vettel survived a spin coming onto the main straight late in the race to finish seventh. Ricciardo became the second Australian to win the Hungarian Grand Prix, after Mark Webber's victory – also for Red Bull – in 2010. Ricciardo then went on to score his third victory of his career to go back to back in Belgium, after the two Mercedes drivers collided. This meant he was the first Australian to win there since Jack Brabham in .

Ricciardo finished the in fifth place, after a tense battle with teammate Vettel during the late stages of the race. At the , he qualified third and finished in the same position.

On 4 October 2014, it was announced that Ricciardo would partner Daniil Kvyat for the season, following the announcement of Vettel's departure from the team. He took his final podium of the year at the . Ricciardo clinched third place in the World Drivers' Championship at the , after retiring from the race. He was forced to retire on lap 39 due to a broken suspension. In the final race of the season, the , Ricciardo finished in fourth place starting from the pit lane due to a front wing infringement, and secured the first fastest lap of his Formula One career. For his 2014 performances, Ricciardo won the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year in April 2015. Throughout the 2014 season, Ricciardo harnessed a total of 238 points, three wins and five more podiums.

In 2015, Red Bull slipped behind Scuderia Ferrari and Williams in their efforts to take the title fight to Mercedes. The Red Bull cars were held back by the Renault power unit having been out-developed by Mercedes and Ferrari. The RB11 only showed pace in slow and twisty high downforce tracks or rain, highlighting the car's strong chassis.

He finished the opening race at the in sixth, the RB11 seemingly uncompetitive as he finished a lap down. Following several points finishes in the first part of the year, Ricciardo's engine blew up on the final lap of the —whilst running in sixth—forcing him to use his fourth and final engine of the year. Ricciardo achieved his first top-five finish in Monaco with fifth and the fastest lap of the race. He had a woeful race at the , where he finished 13th after being hit by car issues.

While tussling for second in Hungary with Nico Rosberg, his race-winning charge ground to a halt when the two clashed while hunting down Sebastian Vettel. Ricciardo managed to finish third behind his teammate. It was his first podium since the 2014 United States Grand Prix. Ricciardo recorded his second podium of the season in Singapore, where he finished second and recorded his third fastest lap of the season.

Ricciardo finished the season with 92 points in eighth place in the championship, three points behind teammate Daniil Kvyat. Ricciardo out-qualified Kvyat 14–5, and trailed him 10-9 in races across the season.

Ricciardo scored his first pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix, and led the early wet stages of the race. However, after a very long pitstop in which his team took nearly 40 seconds to ready a set of tyres, he lost the race lead to Lewis Hamilton and finished the race in 2nd. Ricciardo was notably upset after the race result, saying: "Two weekends in a row I've been screwed now. It sucks. It hurts." A pair of seventh-place finishes followed in Canada and Azerbaijan. A fourth place at the would soon come, having been outqualified by a teammate for the first time that year. Ricciardo returned to the podium in Hungary, finishing third, and in Germany, where he finished second. On the podium in Germany, Ricciardo performed a new celebration, where he drank champagne out of his shoe. He calls this celebration the "shoey". He repeated the celebration at the Belgian Grand Prix (where he came second again), this time persuading podium interviewer Mark Webber to also drink from the shoe. Ricciardo qualified and finished second at the Singapore Grand Prix, after pushing eventual winner Rosberg hard near the end, a late strategy change pushing him to under half a second behind at the finish line.

Ricciardo qualified fourth at the Malaysian Grand Prix but moved up to second into turn one, after a collision between Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg. He then took the lead late on in the race when leader Lewis Hamilton retired with an engine failure. After fighting with his Red Bull teammate Verstappen, Ricciardo took his first victory of the season. He repeated his "shoey" celebration on the podium and was able to get team boss Christian Horner as well as podium sharers Verstappen and Rosberg to repeat the celebration. He finished third at the . Ricciardo eventually sealed third in the Drivers' Championship following a podium finish in Mexico. He scored 256 points and achieved one pole, one win, seven other podiums and three fastest laps. Other than Sergio Pérez, he is the only driver to have been classified in every race of the 2016 season.

At the first Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ricciardo qualified tenth having hit the wall. Ricciardo pitted early on lap 5 due to brake issues, and was down to 17th. However, he would charge back to the top 10 in a matter of laps, and sat fifth at the time of the red flag. Following the restart, Ricciardo made a sensational three-car overtake that moved him to third place, sitting behind Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. However, Vettel was due to serve a stop/go penalty while Hamilton pitted due to a loose headrest, promoting Ricciardo into the lead. He would then cross the line and win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, four seconds ahead of Bottas. At Austria, Ricciardo got past Räikkönen on the opening lap for third, and held off Hamilton for his fifth podium on the bounce. Ricciardo took a five-place grid penalty for the due to a gearbox change, but he suffered a turbo failure in Q1, relegating to 19th on the grid. In a stunning drive, Ricciardo produced a comeback that saw him climb fourteen places to fifth place. His run of form came to a halt at the , as he and teammate Verstappen collided at Turn 2 on the opening lap, causing Ricciardo's radiator to break and spin out a corner later.

Ricciardo stood on the podium in third place at the , having made up a place on Bottas during the second safety car restart from sixth on the grid. However the next race in Italy forced Ricciardo to take additional power unit elements, which necessitated a 20-place grid penalty. He qualified third, but was demoted to 16th. Making yet another drive through the field, Ricciardo performed spectacular overtakes to end in fourth place. In Singapore, from third, He would inherit second at the start after a multi-car shunt, which was where he would finish. Malaysia delivered another podium in third place, after front-row starter Räikkönen was unable to take the start, and secured third again in Japan. This was followed by consecutive retirements in United States and Mexico.

At the , Ricciardo took another engine penalty that relegated him to 14th on the grid. He was caught up in a spin at the start by being tagged by Stoffel Vandoorne, but would still vault up to finish in sixth place. After maintaining fourth in the drivers' championship for much of the season, a third retirement in the last four races at Abu Dhabi saw Ricciardo drop down to fifth in the championship, with 200 points, five points behind Räikkönen. Ricciardo had scored one win, one fastest lap and nine podiums.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Ricciardo finished fifth and set the track record, after spinning under the virtual safety car. Coming into the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, Ricciardo and Verstappen were considered favourites to win the race due to their cars superior chassis and down-force. Ricciardo topped all three practice sessions before qualifying, breaking the lap record with each session. Ricciardo managed to secure the second pole of his career at Monaco, topping every qualifying session as well and setting a new lap record again. In the race, Ricciardo managed to hold off the Scuderia Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel to take his first Monaco Grand Prix victory and his first Grand Prix win from pole position, having to manage a loss of power due to a MGU-K power output issue throughout the race. His result would lift him to third in the standings, but his win would turn out to be his last podium of the season. He was set for a grid penalty at the due to his damaged MGU-K, but Red Bull opted to re-use his other from China. Starting sixth, After jumping Kimi Räikkönen at the start, a successful overcut on Lewis Hamilton brought him to fourth place at the finish.

Front wing damage mid-race limited progress in France, as he was passed by Räikkönen late in the race which demoted him out of the podium positions, eventually settling for fourth again. More disappointment came on his birthday weekend at , retiring with an exhaust failure on lap 54. An uncompetitive weekend followed at the , finishing fifth after a DRS failure in qualifying. He started the from the back of the grid after changing power unit components, but suffered yet another engine failure during the race. Bad luck continue to befall Ricciardo in Hungary, as a spin for Lance Stroll early in a wet session prevented him from completing a clean lap, knocking him out in Q2. Following lap one contact with Marcus Ericsson, Ricciardo managed to progress to fifth place at the halfway mark. He would later make contact again with a damaged Valtteri Bottas on lap 68, but passed him back on the final lap for fourth place.

On 3 August, Ricciardo announced his shock departure from Red Bull at the end of 2018. Ricciardo would suffer consecutive retirements in Belgium and Italy, being caught up in a first-lap incident in the former and sustaining a clutch issue in the latter. This was followed by two sixth places in succession, the latter race at the saw Ricciardo start at the back for a third time due to engine penalties. At the , Ricciardo suffered another qualifying setback, being hit by an exhaust failure that confined him to 15th on the grid, having failed to set a lap in Q2. Fortunately, Ricciardo replicated his Hungary drive and pushed all the way to fourth place. Later in the season, he tied for the most retirements in the 2018 season, with 8 retirements in total. At the , Ricciardo outqualified Verstappen for the first time since Monaco in fifth, the Dutchman endured suspension issues. However, his run of mechanical retirements hit him on lap 9, pulling over with a battery failure.

Ricciardo secured pole at the ahead of teammate Verstappen by a mere 0.027 seconds. A slow start dropped him to third, and was later passed by Vettel following the pit stops. Ricciardo did manage to catch up to Hamilton to reclaim third place, but to no avail as his car suffered a hydraulics issue on lap 61, forcing him to retire for an eighth time, tied for the most retirements in the 2018 season. After the race, Ricciardo insisted that his car was cursed and said that he "didn't see the point" in doing the final two races of the season. An engine penalty in Brazil dropped him to 11th, and narrowly missed the podium to Räikkönen by 0.4 seconds in another stunning charge. Ricciardo finished fourth again at the season-ending after a wrong strategy meant he finished fourth again. He managed four fastest laps for the season, in Australia, China, Spain and Hungary and finished the season sixth in the World Drivers' Championship with 170 points.

Ricciardo crossed the line in seventh place at the having been embroiled in a four-car battle, but was given two separate five-second penalties on the final lap. This was for failing to re-join the track safely after overtaking Lando Norris, and then overtook Kimi Räikkönen off-track, resulting in him being dropped out of the points. After a perplexing race in Austria, Ricciardo started and finished seventh at the . He then suffered an exhaust failure at the German Grand Prix. More woes followed in Hungarian as he suffered a disastrous Q1 exit, and was then stuck behind Kevin Magnussen's Haas throughout the latter half of the race.

Ricciardo took a five-place grid penalty at the due to a new engine, demoting him to tenth on the grid. A collision at the start with Lance Stroll caused significant damage to his car, seeing him fall to 14th place. At the Italian Grand Prix, Ricciardo qualified fifth, and a spin for Sebastian Vettel during the race meant Ricciardo finished in fourth place, his best result of the year. Hülkenberg finished in fifth, contributing to Renault's best finish since the team returned to the sport in . Ricciardo qualified eighth for the but was disqualified due to exceeding the MGU-K power limit during Q1, relegating him to the back. He had an eventful race, moving up to 12th by lap 10 but then suffering a puncture after contact with Antonio Giovinazzi. Following that, Ricciardo was embroiled in multiple battles and came home for 14th place.

Ricciardo was involved in a first-lap collision in Russia, leading to his eventual retirement. Ricciardo charged from 16th to sixth place in Japan after an excellent final stint. However, both Renault cars were disqualified ten days later for using illegal driver aids. From 13th in Mexico, Ricciardo finished in eighth place having pressured Sergio Pérez's Racing Point towards the end. He would follow this with sixth-place finishes in the United States and Brazil, making contact with Kevin Magnussen during the latter, in which Ricciardo sustained front wing damage and earned a five-second time penalty. He wrapped up with 11th place at the .

Ricciardo ended a relatively disappointing season for Renault in ninth place in the championship, with 54 points, ahead of teammate Hülkenberg.

At the , Ricciardo qualified in eighth. Ricciardo finished in fourth place, gaining two positions in the final laps after overtaking Lando Norris and then Carlos Sainz Jr. sustaining a puncture. He was running in sixth place before late tyre punctures for Carlos Sainz Jr. and Valtteri Bottas promoted him to fourth. At the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, Ricciardo qualified fifth, but spun midway through the race and finished 14th. Ricciardo qualified thirteenth and finished eleventh at the next race in Spain.

Ricciardo would go on an eleven race point-scoring streak until the end of the season, starting with the , where he qualified in an impressive fourth. After a challenge on Max Verstappen, he would secure his fourth place, as well as taking the fastest lap on the last lap of the race. At the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, he qualified seventh and finished in sixth place. At the , he qualified eighth and was able to move up to fourth, eventually jumping Lance Stroll to run in third place. At the second red flag restart, Ricciardo briefly moved up to second, but was re-overtaken by Valtteri Bottas and later by Alex Albon, leaving him to finishing in fourth place.

At the , Ricciardo was fastest in the second qualifying segment, and managed to qualify in fifth place. In the race, he finished in fifth place following a five-second penalty for violating track limits when he overtook teammate Ocon. At the , Ricciardo qualified sixth and quickly made his way to fourth place in the early laps. After Bottas ahead retired, Ricciardo would eventually secure third, earning the team's first podium since the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. This was Ricciardo's first podium since joining Renault, and his first since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix.

In the next race, the , he started tenth after having a crash towards the end of the second segment of qualifying, damaging his rear wing. He finished ninth in the race, describing it as "damage limitation". At the , Ricciardo again impressed with fifth in qualifying. From there, he overtook Pierre Gasly on the first lap, before being overcut by Pérez after being stuck behind traffic. However, a tyre failure and the retirement of Verstappen and a strategy error by Pérez's team Racing Point allowed him to finish in third place, collecting his second podium finish for Renault. At the , Ricciardo started fifth again, Ricciardo lost positions as his teammate Ocon spun, with Ricciardo spinning on his own as well late in the race. He eventually finished the race in tenth place.

In the , he started sixth and overtook Valtteri Bottas on the first lap. However, following a red flag, he had a poor second start, which dropped him down to tenth place. He eventually moved up to seventh place. At the , after qualifying seventh, he had a chance of a podium after Charles Leclerc, Verstappen, and Pérez all collided in the first lap of the race. But a mistimed second pit stop caused Ricciardo to be overtaken, ending the race in fifth place. In his final race for Renault at the , he qualified twelfth; however, a good first stint allowed him to exit the pits in seventh place. He also took the fastest lap of the race on the final lap. He finished in fifth place in the championship standings with 119 points, six points behind Pérez in fourth.

At the , Ricciardo qualified seventh, but managed to climb to fifth on the opening lap. He defended fifth from Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez until lap 45, where Pérez was able to get past at turn one. He finished sixth, marking the first time in the season he finished ahead of Norris. In the following round of the season, the , Ricciardo was eliminated in the second phase of qualifying and finished twelfth during the race after being lapped by his teammate, who finished on the podium. A crash in qualifying at the meant Ricciardo started the race in thirteenth, though he was able to climb up into the points during the race and finished ninth. At the , Ricciardo finished in sixth position having held off Pierre Gasly at the end. Ricciardo qualified thirteenth at the . By the end of the fifth lap, he had moved up to eighth, but on lap seven he suffered a loss in power which saw him drop down to fourteenth, and he finished in thirteenth. At the , Ricciardo finished seventh after starting thirteenth. The saw Ricciardo qualify in seventh place, just behind his teammate. He finished Formula One's first-ever sprint race in sixth place after an overtaking move on Fernando Alonso in the closing stages. Starting the Grand Prix from sixth, Ricciardo benefited from Max Verstappen's retirement to finish in fifth place, after holding off Sainz in the closing laps. This was his first top five finish at McLaren.

The final race before the summer break, the saw Ricciardo qualify in eleventh. A chaotic start to the race, which saw seven cars eliminated, meant Ricciardo climbed to second place by the first corner, only for him to be wiped out of the race by another collision and finish the race in eleventh after picking up significant damage to his car. Upon returning from the summer break, Ricciardo qualified fourth for the in wet conditions, ahead of his teammate who crashed out in Q3. The race on Sunday was delayed multiple times due to torrential rain and was abandoned after two laps behind the safety car. As a result, Ricciardo was classified fourth and scored six points. The following weekend at the , Ricciardo qualified in tenth, again ahead of his teammate. On race day, he was denied a points finish after conceding his tenth position during the closing stages, under orders from the team, to Lando Norris, who was on fresher tyres. Nonetheless, it was a weekend where Ricciardo was the quicker of the two McLaren drivers.

Ricciardo qualified in fifth at the next race, the , six thousandths of a second behind his teammate. During the sprint race on Saturday, Ricciardo gained two positions on the opening lap to finish in third position, earning one championship point. As a result of a grid penalty for Valtteri Bottas, Ricciardo started Sunday's Grand Prix on the front row. This also marked the third race in a row where he had out-qualified his teammate. At the start of the race, Ricciardo got a better start than polesitter Max Verstappen and took the lead into turn one. He held off Verstappen for 21 laps, surviving a safety car restart and late pressure from Norris, whom he led home to claim his first victory for McLaren while also setting the fastest lap. This was also the team's first win since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix and their first one-two finish since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. At the , Ricciardo qualified fifth on the grid, behind his teammate Lando Norris who was on pole position. Despite a slow first pit stop, a late rain shower in the final few laps saw Ricciardo pit for intermediate tyres and work his way up to fourth place. At the , Ricciardo was knocked out in Q1 and took an engine penalty, starting at the back of the grid. During the race, he managed to progress up to 13th, calling the race as "pretty painful".

At the , Ricciardo qualified seventh, ahead of teammate Norris, He was then promoted to sixth place on the grid as a result of a grid penalty for Valtteri Bottas. Overtaking Sainz on lap one following a three-way battle between himself, Sainz and Norris, he managed to hold on to fifth place, defending from Sainz and helping McLaren score crucial points in the battle for third place in the Constructors' Championship with Ferrari, while Norris finished eighth. At the , Ricciardo qualified in seventh place, splitting the two Ferraris. Ricciardo made a blistering start and was alongside Pérez for fourth place heading into turn one. Afterwards, he had a small lockup and made contact with Valtteri Bottas at turn one, causing him to lose his front wing. After a pitstop, he fell to last place and could only recover to twelfth place, while teammate Norris was able to come from the back of the grid to finish in tenth place. At the , Ricciardo ran in eighth place and challenged Pierre Gasly for seventh before he had to retire with a power issue, making it his first retirement of the season.

At the , Ricciardo was knocked out in Q2, qualifying 14th, and could only manage 12th in the race after fuel issues hindered his opportunity to progress. Ricciardo managed to end his pointless streak at the penultimate race in Saudi Arabia. After qualifying in eleventh place, he benefitted from a pit-stop during the red flag period to gain positions and finished the race in fifth place. At the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, Ricciardo managed to qualify in tenth place. He then finished 12th after he was overcut by Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly as a result of a Safety Car. He ended the season in eighth place in the drivers standings, scoring 115 points with just one podium, his race win at Monza.

At the Miami Grand Prix, Ricciardo qualified 14th after a car issue during Q2. He then endured a painful and finished in 13th place after his teammate retired. After making it to Q3 and qualifying ninth for the , Ricciardo failed to score points once again, as his slow pace meant he finished twelfth. In the build up to the Monaco Grand Prix Ricciardo was criticised for his early season performance relative to teammate Lando Norris by McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown in an interview Brown gave to Sky Sports F1 stating Ricciardo's poor early season results had "not met his Ricciardo's or our expectations." There, he had a big shunt during the second practice at the Swimming Pool section, before going on to qualify fourteenth the next day. He struggled during the race and finished in thirteenth place. Starting 13th for the , Ricciardo finished eighth following team orders for Norris not to pass him. He then failed to score points in the Canadian Grand Prix as he finished in 11th place, despite qualifying ninth. At the , Ricciardo qualified 14th and could only finish the race one place higher in 13th after a DRS failure forced him into an additional extra pit stop mid-race. Ricciardo then scored two ninth placed results in Austria and France. Qualifying ninth for the , he even ran ahead of the Alpines following the pit stops, but eventually finished 15th having received a five-second penalty for colliding with Lance Stroll during the race.

In August 2022, McLaren and Ricciardo terminated his contract a year early, by mutual agreement. Ricciardo's disappointing performances continued following the summer break at the Belgian and s, as he failed to score points once more by finishing in 15th and 17th respectively. At the , Ricciardo qualified eighth, but was promoted to fourth on the grid following grid penalties. Having run in the top 3 on the opening lap, he was eventually passed by the front-running cars before settling in eighth place. However, his race then concluded on lap 45 due to an oil leak. Ricciardo started down in 16th at the , but in a race of attrition, he went on to finish in fifth place, which proved to be his best performance of the season. Following qualifying of the , Ricciardo announced that he would not be on the grid for the 2023 Formula One season. Starting eleventh for that race, Ricciardo finished the wet race in the same position.

Another poor showing came at the where he finished in 16th place. At the Mexico City Grand Prix, Ricciardo started 11th, but managed to finish in seventh place after a late charge on the soft tyres. This was despite a ten-second penalty after colliding with Yuki Tsunoda on lap 42. Ricciardo was involved in another collision at the as he tagged Kevin Magnussen into a spin on the opening lap, before being collected by the spinning Magnussen, taking both drivers out of the race. Ricciardo was later awarded with a three-place grid drop for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He would finish the race in ninth place after fending off Sebastian Vettel in the final laps. Ricciardo ended the season eleventh in the Drivers' Championship with 37 points. Ricciardo's struggles to score points in 2022 were seen as factor in McLaren losing their battle with Alpine for fourth place in the Constructors' Championship with the Australian having scored 85 less points over the 2022 season than team mate Norris.

During the second free practice of the Dutch Grand Prix, Ricciardo broke a metacarpal bone in his hand in seven places, preventing him from competing for the rest of the weekend. Liam Lawson replaced Ricciardo, making his F1 debut. Riccardo's injury forced him to miss the next four rounds in Italy, Singapore, Japan and Qatar with Lawson replacing him for all 4 of those races but he returned for the United States Grand Prix. There, he experienced a car return in his return, as he struggled on his way to finishing last in 15th place. Ricciardo qualified a season-best fourth for the Mexico City Grand Prix. He went on to finish the race in seventh position after a late attack on George Russell, giving Ricciardo his first points as well as AlphaTauri's best finish of the season. At the , Ricciardo made into SQ3 of the sprint shooutout and after a fierce battle with Carlos Sainz Jr. in the sprint, he narrowly missed out on points with ninth place. In the main race, Ricciardo's rear wing was hit by a flying tyre, causing it to break. Despite successfully repairing it under the red flag, he was forced to start a lap down and was eventually classified 13th at the flag.

A tough weekend at the followed where Ricciardo was only able to make up one place from his starting position to finish in 14th. Starting 15th for the , he missed out on points once again as he was short of catching Lance Stroll for tenth by less than a second. Ricciardo finished the season 17th in the drivers' standings, with the six points from Mexico the only points scored throughout the year.

At the , Ricciardo made it to 11th position in qualifying, missing Q3 by 0.055 seconds behind his teammate Tsunoda. However, he retired on the opening lap after colliding with Alex Albon at the S-curves, leading to both drivers hitting the barriers. The stewards deemed it a racing incident due to circumstances that involved the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in the turn. In the first sprint race of the season in the Chinese Grand Prix, Ricciardo finished in 11th from his qualified position of 14th. He retired in the main race at the end of the safety car period in lap 26 after being collided in his rear-end by Lance Stroll as the two were entering turn 14. In a post-race interview, Ricciardo criticised Stroll for not paying attention and taking responsibility for the collision. After the race, Ricciardo was given a three-place grid penalty for the Miami Grand Prix after stewards found he had overtaken the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg under the safety car.

In Miami, Ricciardo qualified fourth for the sprint and finished the race in his starting position, earning points for the first time in the season. He received plaudits during the sprint for his defence against Carlos Sainz Jr. in the Scuderia Ferrari. For the main race, Ricciardo qualified in 18th due to a lack of grip, and finished in 15th position. Ricciardo progressed to Q3 for the first time at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, securing ninth on the grid. After a poor start, Ricciardo slowly dropped down the order and finished in 13th place. A quiet weekend followed at the as he finished in 12th place, behind Tsunoda once again. At the , amidst criticism from World Champion Jacques Villeneuve of why Ricciardo was "still in F1", he stunned with fifth in qualifying. Despite a five-second penalty for a jump start, Ricciardo earned his first Grand Prix points as he secured eighth place.

RB struggled at the , leading to Ricciardo suffering a Q1 exit and finishing down in 15th place. He barely missed out on Q3 by 0.015s at the , but he returned to the points with ninth place after an early pit stop proved successful. Ricciardo made it to Q3 and qualified ninth for the , but a poor pit stop strategy meant that he was stuck in traffic following the pit stops and thus dropped to 12th at the flag. At the , Ricciardo finished in 11th place, but was promoted to the final points-paying position after the disqualification of race winner George Russell. Despite a mediocre first half of the season, RB opted to retain Ricciardo following the summer break. He then finished the next three races in 13th, most notably at the where opening lap contact with Nico Hülkenberg and time penalties hampered serious chances of points.

At the , speculation arose as to whether Ricciardo would be dropped from the team following the race. There, he endured a frustrating qualifying, lining up 16th on the grid. He finished the race in 18th place whilst setting the fastest lap on the penultimate lap, later being seen emotional post-race after admitting that "it could be my last Grand Prix". A few days later, Ricciardo was released by RB and was replaced by Liam Lawson at the following onward. Jake Boxall-Legge of Autosport later branded his move back to the Red Bull stable a "waste of time" once Lawson was promoted to the parent team.

Ricciardo finished the season 17th in the standings, with 12 points.

Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.