Former F1 star Daniel Ricciardo made a surprise appearance alongside some of his former colleagues in a rare social media post.

The 35-year-old was axed from the sport after the 2024 Singapore GP, when Red Bull’s junior outfit Racing Bulls opted to replace him with Liam Lawson, with the Aussie star rarely seen publicly since.

As the sport and its stars enjoy a week off from racing, Mercedes F1 driver George Russell gave fans a brief insight into how Ricciardo likes to spend his downtime.

The Silver Arrows star is likely enjoying a well-deserved rest after his first grand prix victory of the year last time out, but still found time to fit in a friendly game of padel.

Russell took to Instagram to share a snap of himself at the padel court in Monaco, joined for the picture by Ricciardo, current championship leader Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull athlete Scotty James.

Ricciardo and his close friend James, who is a four-time Olympic snowboarder and two-time medal holder, both wielded padel rackets in the image shared by Russell, which was accompanied by a simple caption of three Australian flags and one Union Jack.

Russell held his own as the only Brit at the meet-up and fans flocked to the comments to thank him for posting a rare image of Ricciardo.

Daniel Ricciardo remains an F1 fan favourite despite no longer racing

Ricciardo spotted in F1 Monaco meet-up

In the months since Ricciardo’s exit from F1, he has focused on projects away from the track, launching new partnerships and adding to his own racing inspired clothing line- Enchante.

He recently took to his own social media to poke fun at former team-mate Max Verstappen, but the Aussie driver posts infrequently, leaving fans with more questions unanswered as to whether a comeback on any type of track is something he is open to or not.

Even a small appearance on Russell’s page was enough to get Ricciardo’s legions of fans excited, with the official Australian GP social admin also joining in on the celebrations, writing: “MY SHAYLAS” as a term of affection towards home heroes Ricciardo and Piastri.

Although ‘the honey badger’ may no longer be racing in the pinnacle of motorsport, he surely will be cheering on Piastri as he continues to extend his lead in the drivers’ standings, with his maiden drivers’ title victory the ultimate prize to work towards at the end of the season.

The baton has firmly been handed from Ricciardo to Piastri as the McLaren star remains the only Aussie on the grid now and should the 24-year-old achieve his first championship, he will be the first Australian driver to do so in F1 since Alan Jones in 1980.