‘Nervous but excited’: Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren move already paying off

Daniel Ricciardo was “nervous but excited” after getting his hands on one of the major reasons he moved to McLaren.

Daniel Ricciardo's company car is not like yours.

Daniel Ricciardo didn’t have to think twice when asked what he was most excited about before becoming a McLaren driver in 2021.

“Company car,” he told the In The Fast Lane podcast.

Now we can see why.

Ricciardo, who is spending the off-season in California after deciding against a fortnight in quarantine in Australia, showed off his new McLaren 765LT on social media this week.

“First date: nervous but excited,” the Aussie captioned a picture of himself sitting next to the car he’ll drive around for free for at least the next two years.

There’s only a small number of the cars, described as “arguably the British marque’s finest work to date”, heading to Australia and they are already spoken for by owners who reportedly spent around $600,000 each.

And even if they’re not the fastest or most expensive car Ricciardo has driven, it’s still a fair upgrade on the Renault Megane he was driving around with his last team.

“We hope you love it as much as we do,” McLaren Auto replied to Ricciardo’s post, while his team wrote “wait til you see the MCL35M” he’ll be racing this season.

Perth-born Ricciardo told driving.co.uk his first car was a Toyota HiLux ute his parents gave him as a gift.

He drove a Fiat Punto hatchback after moving to Europe in 2007 and then a Volkswagen golf while living in England but after reaching the top level of motorsport his ride’s have become a little more glamorous.

RICCIARDO’S LIFE IN CARS

2006 – Toyota HiLux
2007 – Fiat Punto
2012 – Volkswagen Golf GTI
2013 – Porsche 918 Spyder
2014 – 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
2018 – Ford F-150 Raptor
2019 – Renault Mégane RS

2021 – McLaren 765LT

Originally published as ‘Nervous but excited’: Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren move already paying off