“That Was the Big Moment”: Secret Recipe to Olympian Scotty James and F1 Star Daniel Ricciardo’s Great Friendship

Australian Olympian snowboarder Scotty James and eight-time Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo are thick as thieves. The Australians met back in 2016 when Ricciardo was still a Red Bull driver. Since their first meeting, their relationship evolved to the extent that the Honey Badger was one of the groomsmen at James’ wedding.

Speaking on The Red Flags podcast, James revealed that they met at the Red Bull High-Performance Center back in 2016. They had the same coach which is how they were initially introduced. Soon after that, the two grabbed lunch together and the rest is history.

However, one of the hosts on the podcast was curious to know the moment they both realized they would become best friends. To answer this question, James said,

“Probably the moment when we realized that we’re both just as much idiots as each other really, right? That was the big moment and there was many occasions that we had that epiphany So I would say it was a drip feed over.”

He also revealed that the Aussie connection helped but what helped more was their professions. Both Ricciardo and James are athletes in some unconventional sports.

The snowboarder could relate to the struggles of the F1 star and vice versa. Both of their lives demand excessive travel as well. These similarities brought them closer. However, James did not need Ricciardo to become an F1 fan

James was into F1 long before he met Ricciardo

Being Ricciardo’s best mate, naturally, the hosts were curious about how and when James got into F1. However, the snowboarder was into motorsport from a very young age.

In fact, he confessed that he would be into motocross if he wasn’t a snowboarder all thanks to his father. That is why, he’s been into racing. However, for the lure toward F1, he credited the Aussie drivers of the sport.

James said, “Yeah, so then started following F1 I would say because of DR and obviously [Mark] Webber. It was always that Australian presence a little bit.”

The Olympian confessed that his F1 interest is now peaking and he keeps asking Ricciardo about it. Although, he attended his first race in 2010, long before meeting his best friend. So, it’s been a mix of Australian influence and his friendship that has made Scotty James an avid F1 fan.