Presently, the talk of the F1 paddock is the future of the McLaren driver, Daniel Ricciardo. He joined the Woking outfit in 2021 with high ambitions to compete for the world title. However, his partnership with the team has not panned out in the way he hoped.

A similar story unfolded for the Australian in 2015 when he was racing for Red Bull. He was in his second season with the team and partnered with the newly promoted Daniil Kvyat. The Aussie faced multiple blows and the low point of the season was the Canada GP.

In 2014, he clinched his maiden F1 win in Montreal. Yet, failed to finish even in the points the next season. Ricciardo wanted to fight for the world championship in 2015. However, he faced a deficit of 263 points to Lewis Hamilton before the season finale at Abu Dhabi GP.

This season of high inconsistency put his F1 seat in jeopardy. Subsequently, the Aussie got linked to race in NASCAR in 2016. The 7 time NASCAR cup series champion, Dale Earnhardt, is Daniel Ricciardo’s childhood hero. He even races with the number 3 just like his racing idol.

We have already witnessed Ricciardo’s ability behind the wheel of NASCAR. At the 2021 Austin GP, he got his first taste of it. Following his win at Monza, the Mclaren boss, Zak brown presented him with the opportunity to drive his racing icon’s car at the COTA.

Earlier in 2015, Dale Earnhardt Jr. sent an open invite to the honey badger to test a NASCAR. He responded to it by saying “That created a bit of hype didn’t it?”

“At the moment I guess it is a bit of banter. But if Red Bull told me today I’m not racing and I’ve got nothing else to do then I’d get on the phone to Dale and ask him for a test at least.”

“In all honesty the thought is nice but if I did it I’d want to do it properly. I’d want to test and make sure I was competitive and then if I did that it would start eating into the European season.”

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“I mean, right now, the thought is awesome and when I saw the tweet I was very excited but it is going to be put on standby for a little while longer.” he concluded.

The McLaren contract ends at the end of the 2023 season. Do you think the honey badger’s future is in NASCAR?

Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull career

The Perth-born racing driver made his F1 debut in 2011 with the HRT. He was part of the Red Bull junior program and got his seat in Toro Rosso in 2012. He spent two years in the Red Bull sister team before being promoted.

In 2014, the departure of Mark Webber opened the doors for him into the Austrian racing stable. He partnered with the four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel. In his debut season with Red Bull, he clinched his maiden victory and finished 71 points ahead of his teammate.

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The team based out Milton-Keynes re-signed him for 2015. That year, Daniil Kvyat formed the driver lineup at the Red Bull with him. The season witnessed inconsistent results and reliability issues for Ricciardo. As a result, he finished P8 in the driver’s championship. Notably, 3 points behind his teammate.

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2016 was the season when the Aussie introduced the ‘shoey’ celebration to the world. Mid-season he got a new teammate in form of the dutch driver, Max Verstappen. Nevertheless, he delivered a strong season by finishing P3 in the championship.

The Australian racing driver carried the momentum from last year into 2017. He set a 5 and a 3 race podium finish streak in the season. This secured him the P4 position in the championship throughout the season. Yet, another reliability issue in the last three of the four races saw his hard work undone, dropping him to P5.

In his last year of the contract, the reliability issues piled up for the honey badger. He had eight retirements in the 2018 season and finished P6 in the championship. Further, the crash with his teammate, Verstappen, at the Azerbaijan GP heated things in the Red Bull camp.

Following the series of unfortunate events, Daniel Ricciardo parted ways with the raging bulls the next season. While wearing the Red Bull colors, he won 7 Grand Prix and showcased his abilities to the F1 world.