Daniel Ricciardo on life in the F1 paddock: 'That was not normal'

Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo on life in the F1 paddock: 'That was not normal'

Daniel Ricciardo was sacked by VCARB midway through the 2024 season, and has not been seen in F1 since

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 8 May 2026 21:55

F1 legend Daniel Ricciardo has reflected on his life in the F1 paddock, claiming that it was 'not normal'.

Ricciardo raced in the sport between 2011-2024, picking up eight grand prix victories in that time, and a best finish of third in the drivers' championship.

The majority of his success came with Red Bull, where he raced alongside Max Verstappen until 2018, after which he opted to go to Renault and later McLaren.

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Having been axed by McLaren at the end of the 2022 season, Ricciardo was welcomed with open arms back into the Red Bull family, ending up at sister team VCARB (now Racing Bulls).

After being axed by them in September 2024, Ricciardo opted to retire from F1, and is now a global ambassador for Ford Racing.

Amid his time away from racing, Ricciardo has been enjoying watching multiple different racing series as a fan, and is set to watch the Indy500 from the paddock later this month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Now, as he looks forward to seeing how things operate in IndyCar compared to F1, Ricciardo has revealed the difficulties he had with the schedule in F1, describing it as 'intense'.

"I was in the F1 bubble for so long," Ricciardo told the Speed Street podcast. "I got used to how intense the schedule was, the paddock, all of it. And that became normal.

"But now that I'm outside of it, I'm like, oh, that was far from normal."

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Ricciardo's F1 legacy

You can see why Ricciardo felt like the F1 schedule was demanding. Despite only racing in 11 full seasons in F1, Ricciardo sits 10th on the all-time list of grand prix starts, with 257, showcasing just how much longer F1 seasons have been in the last 15 years or so compared to 30 years ago.

The Australian fan favourite will always be welcomed back into the F1 paddock with open arms, with Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies recently suggesting that the 36-year-old could appear at some races this year as a guest of the team.

Ricciardo is known for his gigantic smile, and we got to see that 32 times on an F1 podium across the years, with the Australian arguably a little unlucky not to have picked up more race wins having had his best days during an era of Mercedes dominance.

Despite his retirement from F1, Ricciardo is still only 36, and may still feel like a venture in a different racing series is a possibility.

F1 Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo Racing Bulls Indy 500