Ricciardo grew up in Duncraig, Perth, and began karting at age nine. His family roots run to Ficarra in Sicily and Casignana in Calabria. He was selected by the Red Bull Junior Team after his 2007 Formula Renault 2.0 Italia campaign, won the 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 WEC with SG Formula, and claimed the 2009 British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin. He progressed to Formula Renault 3.5 in 2010, coming within two points of the championship in his rookie season. After testing for Red Bull — setting a time 1.3 seconds faster than Sebastian Vettel's qualifying lap at the 2010 young drivers' test — he was loaned to HRT for the second half of 2011 and then graduated to Toro Rosso for 2012 and 2013, outscoring teammate Jean-Éric Vergne in both seasons.
Ricciardo replaced the retiring Mark Webber at Red Bull for 2014 and immediately outperformed his four-time world champion teammate Vettel, finishing the season with three wins — Canada, Hungary, and Belgium — and five further podiums for third in the championship. He was the only non-Mercedes driver to win a race that year and won the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year in 2015 for his performances.
He took one win in 2015 and two more in 2016, including his first pole position at Monaco, though a 40-second pit stop by the team cost him the race lead there. His 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix victory, after benefiting from a Rosberg-Vettel collision, came after more than two years without a win. In 2017, Ricciardo won in Azerbaijan from 19th place following a remarkable sequence of overtakes. His 2018 campaign was marked by mechanical failures — eight retirements in twenty-one races — but included victories in China and Monaco, the latter achieved after losing the use of two gears and 25 percent of engine power and still fending off Vettel. Despite this, he announced his departure from Red Bull to join Renault.
Ricciardo spent two seasons at Renault. The 2019 campaign was difficult but 2020 saw a return to form, including two podiums and fifth in the championship. At McLaren, his two-season tenure was largely overshadowed by teammate Lando Norris; however, the 2021 Italian Grand Prix produced his eighth and final Formula One victory, when he started from the front row and resisted pressure from Norris for a flag-to-flag win — McLaren's first victory since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. His contract was terminated early at the end of 2022.
Ricciardo rejoined Red Bull as a reserve driver in 2023 before replacing Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards, having been viewed by many observers as an audition for Sergio Pérez's Red Bull seat. A metacarpal fracture sustained at the Dutch Grand Prix — breaking the bone in seven places after hitting a wall — sidelined him for four races. He was retained by the rebranded RB team for 2024 alongside Yuki Tsunoda but was replaced by Liam Lawson after the Singapore Grand Prix, appearing emotional at what proved his final Formula One race.
Ricciardo was known for his aggressive late-braking overtakes, his wide arc through corners, and his perpetual smile. The New York Times described him in 2016 as the driver who "smiles the most, has the sunniest disposition." His popularity surged through the Netflix series Drive to Survive, where he was widely seen as the face of the show. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Australia Day Honours. His "shoey" celebration — pouring champagne into his racing boot and drinking from it — became one of Formula One's most recognisable post-race traditions during the 2016 season. He was in a relationship with Heidi Berger, daughter of ten-time Grand Prix winner Gerhard Berger.
Eight wins, three pole positions, 17 fastest laps, and 32 podiums across 260 Formula One starts.