Daniel Ricciardo is known to be one of the most charismatic and funny personalities on the grid. The honey badger never misses out on an opportunity to prank someone, be it a teammate or someone else. While filming the opening titles for his grand Formula 1 return, he found the perfect opportunity to roast George Russell and he took it with both hands.
Russell had already turned himself into somewhat of a meme when the season started, his peculiar pose in the opening titles going viral. The Mercedes driver can be seen spreading his arms apart and hanging his head downwards, which was then turned into a plethora of memes by fans worldwide.
From replacing the front wing of a car to becoming the Mercedes logo by flipping around, Russell was the talk of the F1 town when the new intro was screened for the first time. And now, Ricciardo also jumped on the bandwagon to roast Russell for his infamous pose.
Daniel Ricciardo does not want to become a meme like Russell
Daniel Ricciardo visited the F1 Media and Technology Center at Biggins Hill to shoot his intro sequence for the opening title. An interview with Lawrence Baretto was also on the itinerary.
Before the shoot began, the director explained to him, “We need to film you for the global feed, some titles, everything like that.” While the director was talking, Ricciardo already started showing him some possible poses in which he would stand.
While doing that, he did the infamous George Russell pose and everyone around him including the director broke into laughter. Later, when he was getting ready for the interview, Ricciardo said, “I just don’t want to become a meme.”
Ricciardo had once flipped off Russell
This is not the first time that Ricciardo has been pulling pranks on Russell. They had an amusing incident at one of the Canadian GP Qualifying Practise sessions.
Russell had gone out into the pitlane and was waiting for the lights to turn green so that he could head out on the track. He noticed Ricciardo sitting in the pit wall of Red Bull, waving at him and trying to get his attention.
However, upon getting his attention, Ricciardo showed him the middle finger, only to get one in return from the Briton. Russell joked about it later and explained that a rogue Australian fan in the pitlane was trying to get his attention.
