Daniel Ricciardo has confirmed his retirement from motor racing, almost a year since his final appearance in a grand prix.
The eight-times grand prix winner has joined Ford Racing as an ambassador.
“While my racing days are behind me, my love for anything with wheels will always remain high, and for that I am proud to be partnering with Ford to become a global Ford Racing ambassador,” he said in a statement issued by the manufacturer.
Ricciardo said he “thought long and hard about finding the most authentic way to stay connected to the world of motorsports” before signing to work with Ford. The company will return to F1 next year in conjunction with Red Bull’s F1 engine project.
Ricciardo arrived in F1 with the support of Red Bull in 2011. He originally drove for HRT before joining Red Bull’s junior team, then known as Toro Rosso.
After being handed the opportunity to replace Mark Webber at Red Bull, Ricciardo impressed by winning three grands prix in 2014, while his four-times world champion team mate Sebastian Vettel ended the year without a victory.
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Further wins followed but in 2018, now paired with the increasingly impressive Max Verstappen, Ricciardo left the team to join Renault. In 2021 he moved to McLaren and scored their first win for eight years at Monza.
However Ricciardo found himself increasingly eclipsed by team mate Lando Norris and McLaren cut short his three-year deal the following season. He returned to Red Bull as a test driver and was handed the opportunity to race in F1 again with their second team, now known as AlphaTauri.
He suffered a wrist injury on his third appearance for the team at Zandvoort which forced him back onto the sidelines. But after he returned, Ricciardo largely failed to out-pace his less experienced team mate Yuki Tsunoda, and he was dropped after last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Since then Ricciardo has pursued a variety of business interests, including his fashion brand Enchante.
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