Daniel Ricciardo, and his increasingly impressive beard, has popped up in a social media update shared by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
The Australian has maintained a low profile since leaving F1 last season, declining to speak to the media, but reappeared for a quick game of padel with George Russell, Oscar Piastri, and Scott James this weekend.
Daniel Ricciardo pictured in Monte Carlo
On Sunday, Piastri shared an image on his own Instagram account, in which he was pictured with compatriot Daniel Ricciardo and grid rival George Russell.
Having taken in a game of padel at the Monte Carlo International Sports complex, Russell had his arm around Ricciardo’s shoulder, with the former Red Bull star sporting far more facial hair than he had while racing in F1.
Piastri, the successor to Ricciardo at McLaren upon his debut in 2023, as well as Australian Olympic snowboarding star Scott James – a close friend of Ricciardo’s – also posed for a picture beside the eight-time F1 Grand Prix winner.
The Australian, who was dropped from Racing Bulls after last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, has distanced himself from any possibility of returning to the grid but recently announced that he had “given retirement a crash, but it’s not for me.”
Ricciardo have partnered up with gambling organisation Dabble as part of a prize known as ‘Dabble Dan’s Tailgate Party’, a competition where the winner will be able to bring along a pal for flights from any major UK airport to Austin, Texas, enjoy accommodation for three nights, and receive VIP Tickets to the Dabble Dan’s Tailgate Party at an American football game on September 20.
The package also includes a meet and greet with Ricciardo at the tailgate party, a social gathering which takes place in a parking lot, commonly before or after a sporting event.
Accompanied by a promotional video on his latest venture, Ricciardo posted on Instagram: “I’ve teamed up with the legends at Dabble to start a tailgate business… Check it out at DabbleDan.com.”
And a visit to the site led to further comments from Ricciardo on his new initiative.
“So, after I hung up the helmet, I gave the retired life a crack. Bit of golf, bit of gardening, caught up on sleep, you know how it goes. It was nice… for a while.
“But then I got that itch. You know? I needed to do something. I missed the buzz. The energy.”
“And that’s when it hit me…
“It was time I chased my TRUE passion…”
And that is this new tailgate business, with Ricciardo inviting applications via the website for those 21 and over.
As for Piastri, who has taken five Grand Prix wins already in F1 2025, the Australian only needs to take one more victory to match Ricciardo’s career tally of eight.
On top of that, Piastri has already matched the most successful Australian F1 drivers in winning five races in one season, emulating what World Champions Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones managed in 1960 and 1980, respectively.
Piastri’s momentum suggests he could become Australia’s most successful F1 driver this century, as he joked he’d be happy with the status of matching them as F1 World Champions.
“Whilst those stats are cool, that’s ultimately not why I’m here,” Piastri said.
“I’m here to try and win even more races and fight for a championship. So I think there are some cooler statistics to come.”
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