"Ricky Bobby": When Daniel Ricciardo had a hilarious back-and-forth with 15x F1 race winner during an autograph session

Daniel Ricciardo and Jenson Button once played along pretending to be strangers as the latter asked the Australian for an autograph at CalSpeed in 2018. Ricciardo also shared an interesting alias during the conversation.

Ricciardo is known for his ridiculous acts and humorous personality. This trait also helped him grow a large fan following during his time racing in Formula 1. Back in 2018 at the Auto Club Speedway, sometimes also called the California Speedway, Ricciardo shared a funny conversation with 15-time F1 Grand Prix winner, Jenson Button.

The 2009 F1 World Champion walked up to Ricciardo and asked him for his autograph. The two then pretended to be strangers.

"Hey buddy, can I have an autograph, please?" Button said.

"Sure, what's your name?" Ricciardo questioned.

Adding more hilarious bits to the conversation, Ricciardo then asked him how his name was spelled. Button replied, saying that his name is after a car's name. Remarking on this, Ricciardo claimed that it "must" be a slow car in that case.

"It's with a 'J,' named after a car," Button remarked.

"Must have been a slow car," Ricciardo commented.

The two kept playing the act. In the end, Button asked Ricciardo what his name was, and he told him it was Ricky Bobby, referring to a sport-comedy film "Talladega Nights" based around NASCAR, where Will Ferrell played the protagonist by the same name.

"Fantastic, thank you. What's your name again?" Button joked.

"Ricky Bobby," Ricciardo grinned.

Daniel Ricciardo last raced for VCARB in F1 but was replaced mid-season after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix by Liam Lawson. His performance throughout the year was assessed to be the reason. Since then, there have been no updates of his return to Formula 1.

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Former F1 driver analyzes Daniel Ricciardo's chances in the IndyCar

Daniel Ricciardo remained a competitive driver early in his career with Red Bull. He was still battling in the mid-field with Renault, however, his 2022 campaign with McLaren was a major letdown. The team sacked him following the season, quoting it as a mutual decision to terminate the contract.

Following his departure, the Australian returned to Red Bull as their reserve driver and was signed by VCARB (then called AlphaTauri) mid-season in 2023 after the team parted ways with Nyck de Vries. From there till the 2024 Singapore GP, as mentioned, Daniel Ricciardo raced for VCARB.

Heading into the 2025 season, however, there are no confirmations of Ricciardo returning to the sport. There were speculations of his move to American series like the IndyCar, but nothing has been confirmed. Speaking on the same, former F1 driver David Coulthard recently mentioned:

"You cannot race IndyCar and race the ovals without hitting the wall at some point. Daniel’s got a way out. I mean, he’s a wealthy boy. He’s got a big personality, and unless he truly believes he’s going to learn how to master the ovals it definitely is going to be a thought."

Since he was sacked from VCARB, Ricciardo has remained silent on his future in racing. Although he has made several posts on social media, none of them hint at a potential return to racing anytime soon.