DANIEL Ricciardo is one of the best-liked drivers on the grid, with eight grand prix wins under his belt.
But who is the F1 star, and what is his net worth?
GettyDaniel Ricciardo is set for career-high earnings in 2023[/caption]
Who is Daniel Ricciardo?
Daniel Ricciardo is a Formula One racing driver, born on July 1, 1989.
He was born in Perth, Western Australia, to Italian-Australian parents.
Born to a motor-sports-mad family, Ricciardo began karting at the age of nine, with the support of his Sicilian father Guiseppe, known as Joe, and mum Grace.
Ricciardo returned to his European roots in 2007 aged 18 to pursue a career in race car driving, winning the British F3 championship in 2009, and then driving in the Formula Renault 3.5 for two seasons.
The driver made his move to F1 in 2012, first with HRT and then Torro Rosso.
Ricciardo moved to the Red Bull team in 2014, where he remained until 2018, winning seven out of his total of eight Grand Prix wins.
He went on to drive for Renault for the 2019–2020 season, and then McClaren for the 2021–2022 season, where he won a Grand Prix on the historic Monza circuit in Italy.
Despite the win with McClaren, the team was soon eager to terminate Ricciardo’s contract early, as he struggled to measure up against teammate Lando Norris.
In a career low, Ricciardo was ultimately replaced at McClaren by Formula 2 champion, rookie Oscar Piastri.
The driver has made a move back to Torro Rosso — now known as Alphatauri — for 2023 and is set to remain for 2024, along with Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Ricciardo has been in a relationship with Heidi Berger, an aspiring actress, since 2019, although the pair only went public in 2022.
Heidi, born in April 1997, is an aspiring actress and is the daughter of Austrian ex-F1 star Gerhard Berger.
Heidi’s father Gerhard won 10 Grands Prix before retiring in 1997.
Ricciardo has admitted that Gerhard was an idol of his growing up, saying: “When I was young, I mean I’ve followed F1 since I was a kid and I had a Berger hat.”
Ricciardo sticks to sharing race-driving updates on Instagram with his 8.8 million followers, but Heidi posts the occasional photo of the pair together to her audience of 169,000 followers.
Owing to his fearless reputation as a driver, Ricciardo has earned the nickname “Honey Badger”.
The racing driver has one sister, Michelle, and is an uncle to her two children, Isabella and Isaac.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s net worth?
Thanks to his career in F1, Ricciardo’s net worth has been estimated at $50 million.
He has already amassed a property empire valued at over $15 million.
This includes a one-bedroom apartment in glitzy Monte Carlo, a popular spot with F1 drivers and other sports stars.
The driving star also has a property in Perth, Australia, and a lavish five-bedroom mansion in Los Angeles’ Beverly Hill, which set the racecar driver back $10 million when he bought it in 2018.
Ricciardo is also said to have an impressive car collection, including a McLaren 720S, an Aston Martin Valkyrie, worth a staggering £2.5million, a Porsche 918 Spyder and a Porsche GT3 RS.
What is Daniel Ricciardo’s salary at AlphaTauri?
The “Honey Badger’s” salary at AlphaTauri is yet to be confirmed, at the time of writing.
But despite a career setback after being dropped by McClaren at the end of 2022, 2023 is set to bring Ricciardo his biggest paycheck yet.
Ricciardo’s payout from McClaren is reported to be worth $24.3 million, equal to £19.9 million.
This figure is supplemented by a $2.1 million paycheck from Red Bull, for his third driver role at the team — which includes test driving and promotional work.