Daniel Ricciardo began his Formula 1 career with HRT all the way back in 2011. His undeniable talent helped him receive an offer from Red Bull Racing in 2014, a team for whom he secured seven wins and established himself as one of the sport’s standout talents. However, the dynamics changed with the arrival of Max Verstappen at Red Bull, leading to Ricciardo’s departure in search of new challenges.
The 34-year-old then moved to Renault, where he achieved decent success with two podium finishes. However, since he had title-winning ambitions and was not satisfied with just fighting for podiums, he decided to move to Mclaren after spending two seasons with the French outfit.
Little did he know that his time at the Woking-based outfit would be a sheer disaster. While Ricciardo has so far failed to achieve the kind of success people would have expected of him, he has been extremely unlucky as well.
DNFs CAUSED BY ACCIDENTS
Charles Leclerc: 9.60% (12/125)
Logan Sargeant: 9.09% (2/22)
Lance Stroll: 9.03% (13/144)
Nico Hülkenberg: 8.74% (18/206)
Alexander Albon: 8.64% (7/81)
Yuki Tsunoda: 7.58% (5/66)
Carlos Sainz: 7.57% (14/185)
Kevin Magnussen: 7.32% (12/164)
Max… pic.twitter.com/IcDCwdnEyB— Holiness (@Big_Data_Master) January 2, 2024
According to a recent post from Holiness, a surprising revelation has come to light regarding the Australian driver’s remarkable consistency on the track. Statistics clearly indicate that Ricciardo has achieved a notable record of avoiding accidents, having been involved in only eight crashes out of 239 race appearances.
This translates to a percentage of just 3.35%. However, upon closer examination of other elite drivers, it becomes evident that each of them has experienced more than 10 crashes.
Lewis Hamilton encountered 15 crashes out of 332 races (4.52%), while Max Verstappen has had 13 crashes in 185 racing appearances (7.03%). Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso has a total of 18 crashes in 380 racing attempts (4.74%).
Contrastingly, when examining the statistics related to Ricciardo’s elevated rate of retirements (DNFs) attributed to mechanical issues, he ranks among the top five F1 drivers. He has had a shocking 30 retirements due to mechanical failures.
On the other hand, Max Verstappen has had 18, while Fernando Alonso has had 60. However, when it comes to Hamilton, he has only had 17 retirements due to engine troubles. Such stats only seem to suggest that Ricciardo could have performed significantly better had he not been so unlucky.
How did Daniel Ricciardo fall from grace after leaving Red Bull?
Daniel Ricciardo’s fall from grace began after he left Red Bull at the end of the 2018 season for Renault. While he had a relatively successful spell at the French outfit, he was barely able to achieve the kind of success he was having at the Milton Keynes outfit in the years prior.
Since Ricciardo failed to register a single win with Renault, he decided to move to McLaren, who had been showing signs of improvement. Unfortunately, joining McLaren brought its own set of challenges, particularly with the emergence of young talent Lando Norris within the team.
While the first season was somewhat decent for Ricciardo, the real challenge emerged for him in the second year when Norris completely overshadowed him. The Briton bagged 122 points in comparison to the Honey Badger’s mere 37 in their second season as teammates.
Since Ricciardo had such a fall from grace, McLaren decided to part ways with him at the end of the 2022 season. The departure from the Woking-based outfit was so painful for him that he decided to take the 2023 season off to regroup. As a result, he decided to return to Red Bull at the start of the 2023 season as a reserve driver.
It was only when an opportunity opened up at AlphaTauri in midseason, when the Italian outfit axed Nyck de Vries, did Daniel Ricciardo return to the grid. After returning to AlphaTauri, he has made his ambitions clear of wanting to fight his way back up and get that second seat alongside Max Verstappen on the main Red Bull team.
