The upcoming season of Drive to Survive may be the last that features Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian lost his seat at Racing Bulls with six rounds of the 2024 season remaining.
He was at the centre of one of the most dramatic storylines in 2023 as he replaced Nyck de Vries midway through the season. Drive to Survive showed Christian Horner ringing Ricciardo to arrange a decisive test at Silverstone.
He would break his hand in a crash at Zandvoort shortly after his return. Ricciardo’s accident was key to his eventual axe because it gave Liam Lawson a chance to shine.
Lawson’s impressive showings were at the forefront of Red Bull’s minds for much of 2024. After persistent rumours, he returned full-time from the United States Grand Prix last year.
Ricciardo considers himself retired from F1, according to close confidantes. Any talk of a comeback with 2026 entrants Cadillac can therefore be dismissed.
His charismatic personality made him an instant star of Drive to Survive, but a move into the media looks unlikely at this point. Ricciardo’s punditry debut in 2023 didn’t go well, so he may stay away from the limelight for a while instead.
Why Drive to Survive never aired Daniel Ricciardo celebrating one Red Bull victory
Martin Brundle never understood why Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of 2018. His shock switch to Renault was a disappointment – the team didn’t live up to his hopes – and then he struggled badly at McLaren.
Ricciardo finished sixth in the championship that year with 170 points – a tally he never reached afterwards. He bagged two victories, one in China and the other in Monaco.
Speaking to The Athletic, Paul Martin, the founder of Drive to Survive producers Box to Box, revealed that they filmed an ’emotional moment’ afterwards. In an ‘amazing’ scene, Ricciardo reflected on his victory.
| YEAR | RACE | TEAM | PODIUM |
| 2014 | Canadian Grand Prix | Red Bull | Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel |
| 2014 | Hungarian Grand Prix | Red Bull | Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton |
| 2014 | Belgian Grand Prix | Red Bull | Nico Rosberg, Valtteri Bottas |
| 2016 | Malaysian Grand Prix | Red Bull | Max Verstappen, Nico Rosberg |
| 2017 | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Red Bull | Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll |
| 2018 | Chinese Grand Prix | Red Bull | Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Raikkonen |
| 2018 | Monaco Grand Prix | Red Bull | Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton |
| 2021 | Italian Grand Prix | McLaren | Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas |
They were apparently convinced that it would ‘blow the mind’ of viewers, but it didn’t make the final cut. They found that it was out of place, no matter where they tried to slot it in.
“As we got into the edit, we started to edit that, we just could never make it work. We tried to squeeze it in. “‘Oh, maybe we’ll try in that episode or maybe we could squeeze it in that episode.’
“And in the end, it just didn’t have a place in the show. So every year we’re making choices like that, of what really elevates this show in the way that it needs to.”
Is there another Daniel Ricciardo on the 2025 Formula 1 grid?
Martin’s fellow producer James Gay-Rees knew Drive to Survive audiences would love Ricciardo from the start. Red Bull granted the most access during the filming for season one.
The series fuelled Ricciardo’s popularity in the United States, which made Red Bull’s decision last year divisive. In the end, the size of his fanbase wasn’t enough to save him.
David Croft fears Yuki Tsunoda is becoming another Ricciardo at the de facto junior team. Tsunoda contributed to the veteran’s exit by outperforming him for the first three-quarters of the season.
However, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Japanese driver has no future at Red Bull himself. And as Ricciardo found, Helmut Marko views the team as a proving ground for legitimate promotion contenders.
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