How did Daniel Ricciardo get his ‘honey badger’ F1 nickname?
Nicknames are quite common these days. From common people to top personalities everyone has a nickname which they are usually called by their loved ones. In Formula One there are lots of drivers who are called by nicknames.
Kimi Raikkonen is famously called The Iceman, Alain Prost is known as the Professor. However, one nickname that is unique is that of Formula One racer Daniel Ricciardo.
Ricciardo is nicknamed the Honey Badger. The Honey Badger is an animal known for being very adorable and very cute. But when you try to attack a Honey Badger or take its territory, it is vicious and fearless, and can viciously kill much larger and supposedly stronger animals.
Honey Badger is typically located in Africa, southwest Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Earlier, Ricciardo himself revealed why he is called by name. Talking to the Red Bull way back in 2014, the racer said:
“It is supposed to be the most fearless animal in the animal kingdom. When you look at it, he seems quite cute and cuddly, but as soon as someone crosses his territory in a way he doesn’t like, he turns into a bit of a savage.
“He’ll go after anything – tigers and pythons, he turns very quickly, but he’s a good guy.”
Honey Bader on Helmet
At the 2021 United States Grand Prix, Ricciardo ran a special tribute helmet to Dale Earnhardt Sr. Earnhardt Sr was Ricciardo’s idol when he was growing up.
Ricciardo uses Earnhardt’s iconic #3 as his race number, and his helmet design for the US GP was based on Earnhardt’s.
The helmet was black with ‘McLaren Service Plus’ written on the side. ‘The Honey Badger’ was also on the back of the helmet.
It has been 20 years now that Earnhardt was killed in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, sustaining a skull fracture after hitting a wall head-on following a collision with Ken Schrader.
Ricciarido’s F1 career
Born on 1 July 1989 in Perth, Western Australia, Australia who currently drives for McLaren-Mercedes, following two years at Renault, a five-year stint at Red Bull and having driven for HRT in the second half of 2011, and Toro Rosso in 2012 and 2013. He was previously a test driver for Toro Rosso in 2010 and the first half of 2011.
From 2012 to 2013, he drove for the Toro Rosso team alongside Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne. In 2014, he was promoted to the full Red Bull team. His first podium came in his first race for Red Bull at his home race, but he was disqualified for exceeding the maximum allowed fuel flow on his car. His first podium was finally achieved at the Spanish Grand Prix.
At the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix, Ricciardo claimed his first win after climbing from sixth on the grid to take the lead from Nico Rosberg a few laps from the end. He won again at the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix and the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.
He later took his fourth win at the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix. In 2017, he took his fifth win at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, starting from tenth on the grid after he hit a wall during qualifying.
In 2018, he took his sixth victory at the Chinese Grand Prix from sixth on the grid, passing all of the front runners thanks to pitting for new tyres under the safety car. He then took his first double at the Monaco Grand Prix.
2019 with Renault was a disappointing one. He ended in 9th place in the championship, with 54 points, ahead of teammate Hulkenberg. In 2020, Ricciardo would go on an 11 race point-scoring streak until the end of the season, starting with the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix. He finished in 5th place in the championship standings with 119 points.
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After two years at Renault F1 Team, Ricciardo joined McLaren for the 2021 Formula One World Championship as a replacement for Carlos Sainz Jr. who had signed a multi-year deal with Ferrari. He has already won Italian Grand Prix with them this year.
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