F1 Throwback: When Daniel Ricciardo Hijacked Mercedes’ Twitter Account

Daniel Ricciardo is beyond doubt one of the finest drivers on the grid. Not only for the speed and grit he has, but also for his ever so broad smile and sense of humour. No media presentation is dull and boring with the beloved Honey Badger. He’s known to poke fun at drivers and media reporters alike, all in good humour. He hardly has had issues with anyone on the grid and despite the hardships of the last two years, is always seen with a broad smile on his face.

In one of his classic antics, Daniel Riccciardo stole Mercedes Twitter guy’s phone during the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix and posted stories of himself. This whole incident happened while drivers were doing a grid lap and the crew members present were filming the crowd to be posted live on the Mercedes account.

The result? Hilarious!

Here, have a look at the video:

Even through the video is 2 years old, it still cracks us up. Not many F1 drivers are known to have interactions with other teams’s personnel, let alone play pranks with them. But Daniel Ricciardo is a personality like no other. He faced incredible hardships in 2018 and winning the Monaco Grand Prix that year was the only good thing that happened to him. 2019 he moved to Renault and the situation barely improved for him. Renault F1 moved from being a comfortable P4 in 2018 to a lowly P5 in 2019. The team was hardly competitive, falling incredibly back compared to McLaren F1. But Ricciardo always knew the struggles he would have to face with a team like Renault and was only hoping for 2021 to be the year for the team to shine.

A lot is also said about his move to Ferrari, which was earlier rumoured to be finalised before Charles Leclerc was selected for 2019. If the reports bring up such possible move in 2021, to replace an ageing Sebastian Vettel, we will keep you updated.