Daniel Ricciardo went from the roar of F1 engines to the quiet click of a camera shutter, and honestly? The transition had him terrified.
The Australian former Red Bull star, who left Formula 1 after a bitterly disappointing 2024 season, has found himself in a whole new world as the owner of fashion brand Enchante. Now he’s stepping behind the lens instead of in front of it, and he’s not afraid to admit how nerve-racking it’s been.
“It was scary,” Ricciardo revealed in a personal blog. “I was s**tting myself a bit.”
His latest project? A photo shoot in Bridgehampton, New York, a location famous for its 1950s motor racing history. There, Ricciardo directed models posing with vintage sports cars while wearing his brand’s newest pieces.
But directing a crew of models and photographers was a whole different challenge than overtaking a rival on a race track.
“I forgot the part about directing, not just clicking,” he confessed. “Telling people where to stand, how to interact, when to be serious, cute, laugh — all of it was really funny because I kept telling myself, what the f** am I doing? Are they laughing at me?”
Just two years ago, Ricciardo was still a full-time F1 driver, having returned to the grid with AlphaTauri after a stunning mid-season call-up. But after being let go following the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, the 35-year-old left the paddock for good. Now he channels that competitive energy into building Enchante, a brand he runs alongside his role as a global ambassador for Ford Racing.
Ricciardo admits he’s still learning the ropes. “I don’t even know how to hold a camera properly,” he wrote, “let alone figure out what I want the models to do.”
From pits to pop-ups, from racing lines to fashion lines, Daniel Ricciardo is rewriting his second act one snapshot at a time. Will he ever feel at home on the other side of the lens?
