In motorsport, it doesn’t get much better and bigger than becoming an F1 driver. Reaching the summit in this discipline is what anyone starting out in single-seater racing cares about, but their job title is such that Daniel Ricciardo once got mistaken for being an Uber driver.
At the end of the day, an F1 driver is that — a driver. And Ricciardo revealed, in a podcast with actor Dax Shepard, how someone once thought he was a different type of driver.
“It’s funny, it’s a weird job title,” the Aussie said. “I remember once I did say that I was a driver and that’s my profession. I feel bad saying, like no offense but their response was ‘Oh, so like an Uber driver’.”
BREAKING: Daniel Ricciardo will leave RB, the team have officially announced pic.twitter.com/usQLG9xxhJ
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 26, 2024
The job title “driver” caused confusion between Ricciardo and the unnamed person. However, after the Honey Badger clarified the type of driver he was, they presumably understood. This was excusable, as to someone unfamiliar with motorsport or Ricciardo, the term driver would typically suggest something more generic.
At the same time, Ricciardo’s title might also be a thing of the past, taking his recent departure from F1 into account.
Ricciardo’s F1 exit
Ricciardo, one the most popular drivers in recent F1 history, won eight races in his career. But between 2019 and 2024, the Perth-born driver was a shadow of his former self.
After standing on the top step of the podium seven times with Red Bull between 2014 and 2019, Ricciardo decided to move to Renault, a move that would derail his career. Two quiet years in Enstone followed by a nightmarish stint at McLaren which destroyed his confidence and in 2023, he returned to Red Bull as a reserve driver.
The aim was to rejoin the Milton-Keynes-based outfit again but a difficult spell at RB (formerly AlphaTauri) from mid-2023 to mid-2024 saw him lose his place on the F1 grid altogether.
Now, Ricciardo is away from the sport, and unless something miraculous comes up, the 35-year-old’s road back looks improbable.
