Daniel Ricciardo pulls back the curtain on 'retirement' in an update on life after Formula 1

Former F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo claimed that he was "enjoying" life after retiring from the sport at the end of the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. The Aussie driver had made his debut on the grid in the middle of the 2011 season with HRT but caught everyone's eye during his first year with Red Bull in 2014 when he beat then-four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel in the same team.

After leaving the Austrian team in 2018, Ricciardo joined Renault for two years from 2019 to 2020 before joining McLaren for two years from 2021 to 2022. However, he took a sabbatical for six months in 2023 after he was dropped by the British team, owing to his poor performances.

Ricciardo returned to the grid in mid-2023 with AlphaTauri, now VCARB, in his bid to get back to Red Bull; however, he was unable to hit his target as the latter decided to renew Sergio Perez's contract and give Ricciardo's place to Liam Lawson.

After the Singapore GP last year, Daniel Ricciardo has stayed away from the media and has not been spotted publicly. He was recently seen out and about for his DRS-Daniel Ricciardo Series, cheering on the young karters.

In an interview at the track, Ricciardo was asked about his life post-F1, to which he replied:

"I’m just enjoying some life in the slow lane, it sounds weird saying retirement when I’m 35 years old. But retirement from the world I was living in. So it’s cool. It’s my first time at a racetrack since, I guess, Singapore, so it’s been quite a few months now. It’s cool to see the kids, this is why I started.

"I’ve had photos with groups of kids, and I can see the friendships they have. These friendships can last a lifetime. My best friend to this day is someone I raced karts with. It’s nice to be back at the grassroots and the most pure form of racing."

Although Ricciardo has kept his distance from F1, the Aussie has been willing to help out drivers, as revealed by Liam Lawson in Canada.

Liam Lawson reveals his chat with Daniel Ricciardo ahead of the Canadian GP

VCARB driver Liam Lawson stated that he had spoken to Daniel Ricciardo ahead of the Canadian GP to gain some knowledge about the track.

As per RacingNews365, the Kiwi driver shed light on their discussion and said:

"I actually spoke to Daniel last week about this track, and he loved it.[He told me] to use lots of kerb, that was probably the main thing, it is a bit unique compared to most of the tracks we drive on."

Daniel Ricciardo claimed his maiden win in F1 at Montreal and went well at the track in his time in F1.