Many F1 drivers have become fan favorites for reasons apart from their incredible driving skills. One such example is Daniel Ricciardo who won the fans’ hearts with his smile- a feature that greatly helps his $96,000,000 net worth. The Australian is one of the funniest guys on the grid, and people hope that with his return, Ricciardo will bring back a certain flair that has been missing from the paddock. While Red Bull previously signed the 34-year-old for his marketability as F1’s ‘funny guy’ and an easily recognizable smile, a former F1 champion blasts the injured driver for smiling too much.
The Australian driver also has one of the most unique nicknames on the grid- honey badger. The mammal, famous for being one of the most fearless, yet often, calm and sweet animals on the planet, is one Ricciardo draws a lot of parallels with. He, too, is famous for his sweet, funny, and approachable nature when away from the track but switches to attack mode as soon as racing begins. However, former F1 champ Jody Scheckter isn’t a fan of the off-track persona of the 34-year-old.
Jody Scheckter doesn’t rate Daniel Ricciardo very high
Ever since he started his F1 career, 34-year-old Ricciardo has had to face various battles both on and off the track. The most consistent of these battles has been the question about his driving capabilities, as he was always seen as the funny guy who’s always smiling and never looks like he means business. While he has done a decent job of proving his naysayers wrong, Ricciardo still faces similar allegations, but this time from a former F1 champion, Jody Schekter.
“He smiles too much, that’s the problem. When somebody smiles so much… I don’t know if he’s going to be any better than Perez. I don’t rate him. I don’t rate him right at the top.”
“I don’t think he’s as good as he was when he started. I think he was quite impressive at some stages. Now, I don’t think he’s impressive.”
Scheckter also added Ricciardo was better at the beginning of his career, but his current abilities render him unworthy of replacing Sergio Perez at Red Bull. The 73-year-old credited Ricciardo for being good with overtakes but still showed skepticism over swapping him with Perez.
How did Ricciardo become the Honey Badger?
The origin of the famous nickname traces back to when Ricciardo was a 13-year-old, racing through the karting circuits in Western Australia. During an important race weekend, Ricciardo and his father (who took time off from work) drove for a couple of hours to go to a practice session for an important race. During the session, two of his rivals battled each other and learned the tracks extensively, while Ricciardo pulled back and sat behind them throughout the session, too afraid to make a move.
After an upsetting session, the 13-year-old felt like quitting racing. However, he apologized to his father a few weeks later, and the duo decided to hire a driving coach to help him. During his first race with the coach, the latter asked Ricciardo to go to his opponent and wish him luck to throw the other kid off his game. Ricciardo did it and claimed his rival “looked like he had seen a ghost.”
The AlphaTauri driver won the race that day by a huge margin. Now, if anyone asks Ricciardo the reason behind there being a Honey Badger on his helmet, the 34-year-old reiterates this incident as the birth story of the Badger within him.
