5 Reasons Daniel Ricciardo’s Brand Trumps His Current Performance

Full disclosure - I am an F1 fan and a major Daniel Ricciardo fan boy.

Sports-lovers back winners but Australian F1 driver Dan Ricciardo hasn’t been winning a lot lately. But that hasn’t stopped him from being arguably the most popular driver on the F1 circuit - not just here in Australia but around the F1 paddock and around the world. It hasn’t stopped Yasser & Sam Shahin from signing on their nationally-expanding OTR petrol & convenience brand as a McLaren car sponsor for this weekend’s Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

And here are the five reasons why:

1) Ricciardo has made it an artform to stand for positivity and optimism - personal sponsor Optus even gave him the title “Chief of Optimism” at Optus. No matter how shit a race weekend he is having, you’ll always see him with a smile on his face - maybe a little less frequent these days, but it’s still there.

2) Ricciardo is a calculated risk-taker - that’s a natural when it comes to racing an F1 car but Daniel took the punt many years ago to leave the relatively stable Red Bull Racing team to go to Renault (now Alpine) and, after that didn’t work out, now McLaren (which is still unfortunately not working out). Not content with being the No.2 driver at Red Bull, Ricciardo decided to back himself and a mid-field team in a No. 1 seat.

3) He is quintessentially Australian - Aussie F1 lovers liked Australian predecessor Mark Webber as well, but Ricciardo celebrates all things that Australians are known for around the world - hard-working but laidback, self-deprecating, generally positive and optimistic in nature. You won’t hear Ricciardo complaining over the radio like a prima donna such is the case with some other drivers.

4) Ricciardo is funny - he interrupts other driver’s media interviews to give them a passing nut tap, he whispers jokes in press conferences to give competitors uncontrollable giggles - who can’t help liking a funny guy?

5) Above all, Daniel Ricciardo is authentic - he celebrates where he has come from and what he is about - what you see is what you get. Despite being at the pinnacle of his sport, Ricciardo hasn’t taken himself through finishing school to apply a false coat of slickness to impress sponsors and team principals - he celebrates who he is and what he is about.

Daniel may be at the opposite end of the F1 driver leaderboard at the moment, but that won’t stop sponsors like Optus and OTR and many fans from around the world loving the brand that is Daniel Ricciardo.

Does your own personal or company brand have similar attributes? If not, should they?