Red Bull F1’s new extra-long Ford commercial reminds us how damn charming Daniel Ricciardo is – Jalopnik

Ford may not be joining Formula 1 as a manufacturer just yet, but the company is still dipping its toe with a new Red Bull F1 partnership. Just before the latest announcement, Ford and Red Bull posted a YouTube video of two F1 drivers racing against a number of Fords, which also featured the Mustang Dark Horse SC before you could see it. Is it basically one long 23-minute Ford commercial? Certainly. But it’s still fun, even if Ford agreed to let Red Bull brag about the Dark Horse SC to the rest of the media.

That said, things like this happen and it’s not worth getting upset about. It’s not like one early video with minimal information somehow made the actual articles about the car irrelevant. And even though it’s a commercial, it’s still a fun video. I mean, they drive a Fiesta WRC car, a 1970 Mustang Boss 302, the 2200 hp F-150 Lightning Supertruck concept, a 1986 RS200, a 1924 Model T, the new Mustang Dark Horse SC, a 1966 GT40, an Australian V8 Supercar Mustang and the Mustang GT3 race car. It’s at least worth a look so you can listen to all the exhaust notes.

Luckily, Red Bull also paid Daniel Ricciardo enough money to have him appear for the final part of the video, and it certainly feels like the atmosphere changes when he finally appears on screen. What can I say: the guy has charm, and you can tell that everyone in the video enjoys hanging out with him. Was he right to retire from F1? Probably. You could even argue that he should have left F1 even sooner, and you might have a point.

At the same time, it reminds us that there is more to being a racing driver than how fast he can complete a lap on a circuit. That’s important when it comes to winning, but damn, I’d so much rather watch an old Ricciardo interview than a lot of newer racers just because he seems like a really nice guy. Hopefully we continue to see more of him, because how can you not like him? He’s just so damn charming.