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Daniel Ricciardo appeared on the YouTube show Box Box with Bella James.
The former F1 driver reflected on his transition into life after racing.
Ricciardo revealed he stays in closest text contact with Max Verstappen.
He lightheartedly called out former teammate Lando Norris for bad texting habits.
Shared details about a past adventure bike crash in Queensland.
When Daniel Ricciardo talks, the sports and F1 world listens. The Honey Badger has offered fans a rare and revealing look at his life away from the grid in his latest interview, appearing on the latest episode of the YouTube series ‘Box Box with Bella James’ for a casual drive-thru run. Since walking away from the grid following the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, capping off a stellar 258-race career that yielded eight wins, 32 podiums, and over 1,300 world championship points, Ricciardo has been actively navigating his transition into retirement. Trading the high-stakes world of motorsport for the passenger seat of a Ford Ranger Raptor, the surprisingly candid interview showed that Ric hasn’t lost his signature smile.
Building on previous post-F1 comments where he admitted he was “trying to figure out who I am other than this race car driver,” the 37-year-old opened up about his current off-track pursuits. Balancing his role as a Ford brand ambassador with like dirt biking and the occasional padel tournament, Ricciardo is clearly enjoying life at a slightly slower pace. During the drive, he even highlighted his decidedly analogue approach to everyday carry, detailing a stubborn appreciation for “slow tech” like physical wallets over digital apps.
Of course, he didn’t hold back when discussing the current Formula 1 paddock either, dropping names and revealing exactly who’s leaving him on read now that he’s stepped away from the sport. The interview serves as another reminder of why Ricciardo remains a global fan favourite to this day. Now that he’s settled into retirement and embraced what he jokingly calls the “dad demographic,” it’s nice to see him back in front of the camera with his self-deprecating humour completely intact. Here’s what Daniel Ricciardo has been up to lately.
Daniel Ricciardo reflecting on his transition into retirement. | Image: Instagram / @danielricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo is Moving at a Slower Pace in Retirement
While you might expect a driver who spent over a decade operating cutting-edge, multimillion-dollar race cars to be fully digitised, Ricciardo revealed he’s surprisingly old-school. Then again, for someone who spent his professional life managing complex telemetry, differential dials, and dynamic engine modes at 350km/h, knowing that his personal setup is remarkably low-tech, probably shouldn’t come as a surprise at all.
When James noticed he was carrying a physical wallet to pay at the drive-thru instead of tapping his phone, Ricciardo admitted he hasn’t quite embraced modern digital convenience.
“I have a phone on me, but I don’t have any like cards on here,” Ricciardo confessed, laughing as James accused him of carrying a “burner phone.”
The refusal to rely on digital wallets or smartphone banking feels like an intentional pivot toward a simpler, less cluttered lifestyle. This isn’t new for Danny Ric. Speaking at the Ray White Connect conference in 2025, Ricciardo reflected on the mental shift required after stepping away from Formula 1, explaining that after living a “crazy, high-speed life for so long,” he had finally “sat into a little bit of stillness.”
Unplugging from the connected, data-driven world of top-tier motorsport means embracing a slower pace, even if it means risking a bit of friendly teasing from the younger generation. “I know. I just haven’t done it. I’m not really technologically sound. Yes. My age is coming through. This is a dad joke. I’m in that dad demographic now.”
Daniel Ricciardo | Image: Instagram
Looking Back with Laughs
One of the interview’s more unconventional moments came when James pulled out a pair of scissors and snipped a piece of Ricciardo’s hair right from the passenger seat. The impromptu trim prompted Daniel to explain that he’s actively considering a major grooming pivot, potentially moving away from the staple mullet aesthetic he has championed for years. It marks a humorous shift from his appearance at the Ray White Connect conference last year, where he joked that his growing beard was his “comfort right now” after losing his razor and having a fallout with his barber. Now, a cleaner, more streamlined look appears to be on the cards.
“I’ve been tempted to shave it just to see, you know… all off,” he noted. “More just to be like, buzz cut and then beard.”
One of the other standout moments of the drive arrived when James nearly clipped a pole with the Ford Ranger Raptor the two were in. Brushing the near-miss off with a laugh, she praised her own inherent confidence behind the wheel. Without missing a beat, Ricciardo delivered a classic, self-deprecating jab regarding his late-career F1 pace and the mental hurdles that accompanied his final stints on the grid.
“See, this is what I lacked at the end of my career. Just confidence behind the wheel. And you’ll be more aerodynamic. If only I did that a few years ago.”
Daniel Ricciardo taking to two wheels off-road. Image: Instagram / @danielricciardo
Trading the Track for the Trails
Stepping away from Formula 1 hasn’t entirely killed Ricciardo’s competitive edge or his appetite for sports pursuits. The Aussie told James he was en route to a padel tournament (the racquet sport currently taking over the world) while opening up about his ongoing love affair with life on two wheels outside the safety of an F1 cockpit.
“I’m open to dirt biking as well. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I actually am,” he mentioned, before conceding that his foray into the world of off-road motorcycles hasn’t been without its physical toll. Employing classic Australian slang, he casually told the British host, “I ate last year.”
When James understandably looked confused by the idiom, he offered a blunt, unfiltered translation: “I stacked it. I crashed.”
Of course, fans will remember the exact incident Ricciardo was referring to. Back in August 2025, the Perth-born driver was hospitalised after crashing an adventure bike during an off-road trip through the Daintree Rainforest in Far North Queensland. The mishap resulted in a broken collarbone that landed him in a nearby hospital, proving that even for an elite driver accustomed to 350km/h cornering, life on two wheels can quickly come back to bite.
Dan’s departing gift was a custom KTM from RedBull | Image: Supplied / MotoGP
The Paddock Group Chat
Of course, what fans are really eager to know is which drivers maintain actual friendships off the track, and Ricciardo provided some candid context into paddock life post-retirement.
When asked who he’s currently closest with, he revealed that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is his most frequent texting partner. It’s an ongoing connection that makes perfect sense, given their long-standing history as former teammates and the fact that Ricciardo and Verstappen have recently been appearing alongside each other in promotional videos for Ford, where Ricciardo holds a global ambassador role.
Conversely, he did not hold back when discussing his former McLaren teammate, calling out Lando Norris’s notoriously brief messaging habits.
“Lando’s a terrible text… I think he gets bored after a few texts and then just stops replying,” he said. Ricciardo, by his own admission, operates on the complete opposite end of the communication spectrum: “I send so many voice notes. God damn it. Is it selfish? But I love it.”
He also shared an anecdote about a recent run-in with former Mercedes rival Valtteri Bottas at Coachella. Ricciardo noted that despite their years racing against each other at the pinnacle of motorsport, the Finnish driver remains remarkably reserved in person. The remark naturally led to a comedic acknowledgment of Bottas’s infamous charity naked calendar, with Ricciardo deadpanning about his former competitor’s posing style. “Is he doing his Pilates in the naked calendar? Like I think he’s just spread eagle.”
Whether he’s navigating dirt trails in the Daintree, trading voice notes with Max Verstappen, or simply trying to figure out modern digital banking in a drive-thru, Daniel Ricciardo seems completely at peace with his post-racing reality.
Ben lives in Sydney, Australia. He has a Bachelor's Degree (Media, Technology and the Law) from Macquarie University (2020). Outside of his studies, he has spent the last decade heavily involved in the automotive, technology and fashion world. Turning his ...
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