Ricciardo: My racing days are behind me

Ford will be engine partners from next season with Red Bull, Ricciardo's former team in Formula 1 and with which he took seven of his eight wins.

The 36-year-old last raced in 2024 for the Red Bull-owned team that is now Racing Bulls.

"While my racing days are behind me, my love for anything with wheels will always remain high and for that I am proud to be partnering with Ford to become a Global Ford Racing Ambassador," he wrote in a blog post for Ford Racing.

"When I decided it was time to retire, I thought long and hard about finding the most authentic way to stay connected to the world of motorsports.

"For me, racing was always about having fun. It made me happy and created memories that will last a lifetime," Ricciardo concluded.

The announcement coincided with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, a race Ricciardo won for McLaren in 2021.

Ricciardo started his F1 career in 2011 with HRT F1 Team and then moved to Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) in 2012 where he remained till the end of 2013 and then was promoted to Red Bull Racing in 2014 to replace his compatriot Mark Webber.

He moved to Renault at the start of the 2019 F1 season and then to McLaren at the start of the 2021 season but was let go by the team at the end of 2022 for failing to perform alongside Lando Norris.

After McLaren Ricciardo took on a reserve role with Red Bull and was given a shot at the top flight again in mid 2023 wit AlphaTauri (Now Racing Bulls) and then raced his final F1 season in 2024 with the Racing Bulls where he was fired following the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.

The Aussie took part in 257 grands prix over the course of his career with 32 podiums out of which eight are wins. He also bagged three pole positions. His best result in the F1 Championship was third in 2014 and 2016.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Additional Reporting by GrandPrix247)