“Dana White, if you’re listening" - When F1's Honey Badger Daniel Ricciardo publicly put himself up for an MMA switch

The year 2018 was not a fun one for Daniel Ricciardo, as he contempated switching careers.

This rather funny moment happened after the Austrian GP, where Ricciardo suffered a DNF. Till that point that season, Ricciardo had won in China and Monaco and was hungry for more.

However, an exhaust issue cost him a finish and strong result in Austria. It was after the race when in a moment of despair Ricciardo thought out loud whether a career switch to MMA was possible at that moment and should Dana White sign him for UFC. He said:

“It was just one of those days. Is it too late to start my MMA career? Will Dana sign me? I am out of contract, so maybe I will just swap sports all together. Dana White, if you’re listening. I have some work to do, but maybe you can sign me in a couple of years, take out some of my anger.”

Talking about the race, Ricciardo said that it was a bit frustrating, saying:

“It’s frustrating; it is what it is, so yeah, on one side I am obviously disappointed with how the day went because at one stage it was looking like a 1-2, As soon as we put the soft (tyres) on; it didn’t feel like it gave me much. We struggled quite a lot the first few laps and even though I was able to get Kimi (Raikkonen), he made a mistake in Turn 3, and that allowed me to attack him.”

Ricciardo is taking a sabbatical for the 2023 season, leaving McClaren at the end of last season.

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Daniel Ricciardo's teammate won 2018 Austria GP

Ricciardo's teammate Max Verstappen won the 2018 Austria GP, and most of it came down to one pivotal moment.

In a virtual safety car period early on, the leading Mercedes drivers took a cheap pitstop while Red Bull decided to stay out, which changed the outcome of the race.

Verstappen inherited the lead and was never usurped. Ricciardo felt he could have made up places and finished P2 behind his teammate, but that did not happen as he had to retire with an exhaust issue.

Verstappen won the race ahead of the Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. Haas brought home a dream result as Romain Grosjean was fourth, ahead of teammate Kevin Magnussen in fifth.