Daniel Ricciardo’s hilarious bid to be Infiniti’s ‘employee of the month’

Daniel Ricciardo is an F1 megastar on the track, but the Aussie has spent the mid-season break proving he can be just as effective in the showroom.

Aussie F1 superstar Daniel Ricciardo’s first year with Renault hasn’t gone to plan as yet, but surely he’s not thinking of retirement already?

We’ll put it down to a mid-career crisis with Ricciardo maybe feeling the slow ticking of time after turning 30.

The Aussie star is one of the most loved drivers on the grid, but the same may not be said when he gets to the showroom.

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Ricciardo, donning a suit instead of his customary Renault yellow and black, traded the track for the office as he joined an Infiniti dealership looking to win a second employee of the month award.

Back at Red Bull, he previously claimed the award in a video in 2015.

But in that video, he was tasked with getting Red Bull and coffee, watering plants and changing light bulbs.

This time around, Ricciardo suited up for the boardroom, showing a more ruthless side.

Arriving in his F1 car, Ricciardo was definitely more self assured this time around.

His key to success — people management.

He worked with a junior exec named Stuart, took a customer on a test drive, put the mechanics through their paces and unveiled the Infiniti Q60 Honey Badger edition.

Daniel Ricciardo pushes the Honey Badger edition.

Needless to say, Ricciardo fell just short of the coveted award.

Not like his first time at the dealership.

Need we say Dan — please stick to your day job.

CRUNCH TIME FOR RENAULT

Back on the track, the return of the F1 season in Belgium is crunch time for the team.

Ricciardo’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg has described the next two races as “make of break” for the team’s season with Renault sitting in sixth overall.

It has led to the rumours Esteban Ocon could be accompanying Ricciardo next season with Hulkenberg left on the outer.

“We know the season has fallen below our expectations so far, and it’s up to us now to ensure we recover it for the remainder of the year,” Hulkenberg said on Renault’s official Spa preview. “(Over the summer) I relaxed a little, recharged the batteries on a boat in Croatia.

“But now it’s time to get going again and I’m ready for the challenge. These next two back-to-back races are almost a make or break for our season. We have to be on it.”

After Spa, the racing heads to Monza over the next two weeks.

That’s better Dan.

Ricciardo said the break came at a good time for the team to be able to clear their minds and focus on the goal of improvement and chasing the “best of the rest” tag behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

“It’s been a challenging season so far, we can’t hide from that,” Ricciardo said. “There have been some positives, some things not so good, so the summer break was ideal for us.

“It was nice to take some time off, have a holiday in Los Angeles, and not think too much about racing. It was the same for the team, so hopefully we’re all feeling refreshed now.

“We’re targeting a better second half of the season to catch our competitors. I know we can do it, we just need cleaner weekends.”