Daniel Ricciardo started racing Karts at the age of 9 in Australia. By the age of 15 he raced in Formula Ford, finishing eighth overall. In 2006, he came 3rd in the Formula BMW Asian Series with 2 wins and 12 podiums. The following year, he came 6th in the Formula Renault 2.0 Series, with only one podium and no wins. With 8 victories and 11 podiums in 2008, Ricciardo won the Formula Renault Western European Championship. He also won six of the Formula Renault European Series races the same year. Winning six Formula 3 races in 2009, Ricciardo won the Championship. By 2010 Ricciardo moved to the Renault 3.5 Series and got 4 race victories.
As runner-up in the Renault 3.5 series, Red Bull got him a place in HRT for some of the 2011 season. Also taking part in 8 practice sessions for Toro Rosso, Ricciardo continued to impress. With a race seat at Toro Rosso for 2012, Ricciardo showed pace in qualifying and had multiple points finishes. Continuing to impress with great qualifying speed and 2 seventh places in 2013; Ricciardo was offered a contract at Red Bull for 2014.
Alongside 4-time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, he was faced with a great challenge. With a podium in Australia, he showed he had excellent race pace. However this place was taken from him due to a fuel flow issue, which resulted in disqualification. With consistent point finishes, Ricciardo showed he had what it took to be a World Champion. Unfortunately, a season dominated by Mercedes prevented this dream coming true. As the only race winner not in Mercedes all season, Ricciardo finished 3rd overall. This was ahead of his much more experienced teammate, Vettel.