“He was not going to be doing it, if I was earning $50,000 a year”: Daniel Ricciardo’s father admits his privilege made him F1 driver

Tanish Chachra | 16/09/2022
"He was not going to be doing it if I was earning $50,000 a year": Daniel Ricciardo's father admits his privilege made him F1 driver

Daniel Ricciardo’s father, Joe Ricciardo, admits his son had the privilege of getting funds to go to Europe, which played a crucial role.

Getting into F1 is not an easy task. Not only because only 20 spots are available in the sport, but it also requires massive financial backing for one to reach there at least.

Daniel Ricciardo, who has been racing in F1 for over a decade, also doesn’t come from a humble background. He is surely not a son of a billionaire, but he comes from a well-to-do family.

His father, Joe Ricciardo, who was in the earth moving business, had wealth which was good enough for his son to pursue his dream. He revealed that it took around $350,000 for him to send his son to Europe.

The senior Ricciardo admits his son, and now McLaren driver, wouldn’t have been there if he wasn’t making good enough money. The money helped him reach the big leagues after high school and gave him an opportunity where Red Bull could detect his talent.

“I’m not that religious, but do you know how often I think someone upstairs is responsible for this? This kid was born to do what he is doing, but he was not going to be doing it if I was working and earning $50,000 a year or whatever,” he said.

“So, someone gave me the work ethic or inspiration to do it, instead of just plodding along,” he added.

Also read: Carlos Sainz craves $400,000 new Ferrari SUV

Daniel Ricciardo also talked about how finances were important

While Ricciardo surely came from a family with decent finances, he still had his limitations. He had earlier told that his parents and relatives chipped enough to send him to Europe.

Because of that, his first year in Europe was tough. However, he was worried about his second year, when his personal fund would have dried.

The Australian was desperate to make an instant impact and get something within his first year in Europe. In the end, Red Bull got his attention, and soon he was in their academy, climbing up their ranks to be their driver.

Also read: Max Verstappen owns $3 Million Aston Martin hypercar which is responsible for mega lawsuit against luxury automobile brand

Post Edited By: Samriddhi Jaiswal
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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