Daniel Ricciardo has formally confirmed he has retired from racing after being named a worldwide Ford Racing ambassador.
The 36-year-old Australian final raced 12 months in the past, his closing begin in System 1 coming for Racing Bulls on the Singapore Grand Prix. He was dropped in favor of Liam Lawson after that race and didn’t entertain a transfer to a different workforce. He had beforehand been making an attempt to earn a chance to rejoin Crimson Bull.
Whereas Ricciardo has largely steered away from the limelight since his closing race, and dominated himself out of being thought of for a Cadillac F1 seat in 2026, a weblog put up as a part of his newly-announced position with Ford Racing – the brand new identify for Ford Efficiency – confirmed he is not going to be race in every other class in future.
“Whereas my racing days are behind me, my love for something with wheels will at all times stay excessive, and for that I’m proud to be partnering with Ford to develop into a International Ford Racing Ambassador,” Ricciardo wrote. “I’m going to be working intently with the Ford Racing workforce and particularly concentrate on the superb Raptor model and life-style that Raptor has develop into for a lot of of Ford’s clients.
“So why now, and why me? After I determined it was time to retire, I believed lengthy and laborious about discovering essentially the most genuine method to keep linked to the world of motorsports. For me, racing was at all times about having enjoyable. It made me completely happy and created reminiscences that can final a lifetime.”
Ricciardo retires from racing with a report of eight grand prix victories and 32 podiums from 257 begins in a profession that included stints at HRT, Toro Rosso, Crimson Bull, Renault and McLaren, previous to his return to what had been Toro Rosso underneath its Racing Bulls guise.
Ricciardo twice completed within the prime three of the drivers’ championship, securing third place behind the dominant Mercedes drivers in 2014 and 2016 whereas at Crimson Bull. His final win got here for McLaren 4 years in the past at Monza.
