Ricciardo lays bare ‘hard’ Singapore GP exit in ‘not the fairy tale’ verdict

Walking away from Formula 1 after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo concedes it was “not the fairy tale ending”, but such was his relationship with the Red Bull teams, it paved the way for his next chapter.

An icon amongst Red Bull fans with his seven wins for the senior team, Ricciardo bid to return to Red Bull for the F1 2025 championship ended abruptly last year when his audition with Racing Bulls ended early.

Daniel Ricciardo: It was obviously not the fairy tale ending

And despite wide spread speculation that it was on the cards, it was not confirmed until days after the Honey Badger had parted ways with the team.

Finishing the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix down in 18th place, there were signs that was it for Ricciardo as he not only pitted late in the race for a glory lap fastest lap run, but he also received a guard of honour from the team and guests on his way back to the hospitality.

Addressing his Formula 1 future after the race, Ricciardo confirmed that there is a “realistic chance” that he will not be in the VCARB 01 for the United States Grand Prix.

Four days later, his VCARB – and Formula 1 – exit was confirmed as then team principal Laurent Mekies announced: “Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us. He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the team… He will be missed, but will always hold a special place within the Red Bull family.”

A special place that, despite his heart-wrenching exit, paved the way for Ricciardo’s next adventure – creating apparel for VCARB’s F1 Academy driver Rafaela Ferreira to wear on and off the track.

“It was obviously not the fairy tale ending; Singapore was hard for me and it definitely played with the heartstrings and all of that,” Ricciardo told Esses magazine.

“But I think it speaks to the relationships I had with a lot of the team members and people in the business and Red Bull.

“It was nice for me to remove myself, be at peace with 12 months ago, and now come into this with — I don’t know — a bit of warmth.”

Warmth that has extended to Ricciardo landing a role as a global racing ambassador for Ford, Red Bull’s 2026 engine partner, which was announced in September as the Honey Badger officially confirmed the end of his racing days, saying “my racing days are behind me”.

It’s been an adjustment for the 36-year-old, who spent two decades racing his way from Western Australian Formula Ford Championship to his final grand prix in Singapore, with 14 years on the F1 grid.

“It can probably frustrate at times, but I think it can also be appreciated,” he said. “Like, yes, Daniel can be fucking annoying, but he also really cares, and he’s looking at every detail.

“I think it’s just acknowledging that F1 is literally on another planet, and I can keep some things from that, but a lot of it, I just need to let go.

“Everyday life just does not operate like F1, and if you treat it like that, you will just go crazy.”

“I’m 36 now, and pretty much my whole life revolved around me. I was the center of attention,” he continued. “I had to put myself first for everything: training, diet, what restaurants we go to. Just everything.

“So now it’s nice to take a step back and give that kind of energy to other people.”

Energy he’s also giving to his Enchanté line of clothing, where rule number one from teenage Ricciardo is “Don’t sell out.

Probably, if I printed a t-shirt with just my face on it, all my fans would buy it. They’d be like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s the coolest shirt in the world.’ And I think it’s the worst shirt in the world.

“So, obviously, with any business, yes, you want it to be successful. You want it to make profit, because if it’s making profit, it stays alive. But, really, this was a business built around wanting to do cool shit. It wasn’t built around, ‘Oh, let’s get rich.’ That was never the talk. It was never the objective.”

Read next: Norris reveals ‘stupid’ Verstappen, Hamilton regrets in championship respect debate