Daniel Ricciardo

Australian racing driver Daniel Ricciardo combined fearless driving with a charisma that won over fans far beyond the racetrack.

Across 14 seasons in Formula One, from 2011 to 2024, he claimed eight Grand Prix victories, including some of the most dramatic and memorable in recent history.

His achievements on the track and his popularity off it were recognised in 2022, when he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for ‘significant service to motor sport as a competitor and ambassador, and to the community’.

Daniel’s racing story began in Perth. His father, Giuseppe (Joe) Ricciardo, migrated from Ficarra, Sicily, at the age of seven, while his mother Grace Pulitano was born in Australia to parents from Casignana, Calabria. Growing up in Duncraig with his sister Michelle, Daniel’s earliest memories include watching his father race at Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo. By nine, he was behind the wheel himself, starting in karts before rapidly rising through the ranks. 

Daniel with parents Grace and Joe in Monaco, 2018 – a megawatt smile as he celebrates his unforgettable victory, a redemption after the win that slipped away at the same track two years earlier.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

Credit: Ricciardo Family

In 2008, he won the Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup, followed by the British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin the next year. 

His Formula One debut came in 2011 with HRT, and by 2014 he was at Red Bull Racing, stunning the sport with three wins in his first season. More victories followed – Malaysia in 2016, Azerbaijan in 2017 and two in 2018, in China and Monaco. His triumph at Monaco – holding off rivals despite crippling power loss – became legendary, a symbol of his grit and determination.

Daniel leaps in triumph after winning the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix. Despite severe power loss, he held off rivals to secure one of the most memorable victories of his career.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

Later moves to Renault and McLaren kept him in the spotlight, with a famous win at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. His final years in Formula One saw him return to Red Bull as a reserve and then race again with Alpha Tauri and RB in 2023–24.

Earlier this year, Ricciardo announced his retirement – remembered not only as a champion driver, but as a figure who brought joy, humour and humanity to the sport.

Daniel celebrates his 2018 Monaco Grand Prix win with a trophy and sparkling wine on the podium.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

Giuseppina Ricciardo

Life is a wheel that keeps turning.

Credit: Ricciardo Family

Giuseppina was born in 1932 in Sinagra, Sicily, one of seven children of Alberto and Giuseppa Vinci. She grew up on a self-sufficient property surrounded by olive groves, fruit trees, goats and pigs where hard work, resilience and family unity shaped daily life.

The family pressed their own olive oil, made wine and produced much of what they needed by hand. From an early age, the girls learned cooking, sewing and embroidery – skills passed carefully through generations.

As a teenager, Giuseppina worked in the olive and hazelnut harvests. Wartime left vivid memories – German soldiers in the village, tanks rumbling past the family home and troops retreating into the mountains as the conflict neared its end.

Giuseppina and Francesco in Sinagra, Italy, around 1950.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

Giuseppina married Francesco Ricciardo in Sinagra in the early 1950s , beginning a partnership rooted in devotion and shared heritage.

In the difficult postwar years, with opportunities scarce, Francesco made the life-changing decision to migrate to Australia.  With support from Giuseppina’s three older brothers already there, he found work first in Kalgoorlie before moving to Perth, where he worked as a limestone mason and prepared a future for his family.

Finally, Giuseppina’s turn came. In November 1960, she and her children set out on the Neptunia for the 28-day voyage from Messina to Fremantle, travelling together with her parents and siblings. She brought two wooden trunks packed with linen, utensils, clothing and family treasures – symbols of a life left behind and hopes for the new world ahead.
 

Giuseppina (middle) with her sons Giuseppe (left) and Alberto (right) in Matini, Sicily, 1957.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

The family first settled in Osborne Park and then Tuart Hill, drawing strength from relatives and the support of businesses like Kakulas Bros, which supplied familiar foods that reminded them of home and kept traditions alive. By late 1961, they had moved into their first State Housing home in Nollamara, where their children began school and embraced English with the help of kind neighbours. Two more sons, Charlie and Leo, were later born in Perth, completing the family of six children.

In 1968, Giuseppina and Francesco moved to a five-acre (about 2 hectares) property in Wanneroo to run a market garden, supplying fresh vegetables to Perth’s early markets. For Giuseppina, life was simple but full – raising the children, baking bread, tending chickens and sharing stories in Sicilian-accented English. Eventually, the family settled in Balcatta, where Giuseppina has lived for more than 50 years.

Giuseppina enjoys a family celebration, 2024.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

During the 1970s, Giuseppina worked in the kitchen of a nursing home in Coolbinia, where her English improved and she built lasting friendships with staff and residents. In 1991, she retired, though her industrious spirit never faded.

Now approaching 92, she still cooks, tends her garden and lovingly cares for her chickens. Affectionately known as Peppina, Nonna, Bis-Nonna or Zia Peppina, she is cherished by her family. Her legacy endures through six children, 12 grandchildren and 14  great-grandchildren – a life shaped by love, gratitude and resilience.

Giuseppina with grandson Daniel Ricciardo.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

Paola Pulitano

Credit: Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family 

Paola was born in 1926 in the seaside hamlet of Casignana, Calabria – a village framed by citrus groves, olive trees and the sparkling Ionian Sea. The setting was idyllic, but her childhood unfolded in difficult times. Italy, already devastated by the First World War, was shattered again by the Second, leaving poverty, unemployment and political turmoil in its wake. Families endured food and housing shortages, and the struggle for survival left deep marks on an entire generation.

In the final years of the war, Paola met Francesco. They married in March 1944 and soon welcomed three children – Saverio, Stefano and Agata. Though their love was strong, the postwar years were harsh. Determined to provide security, Francesco migrated to Western Australia in 1952 on the Castel Bianca. Paola remained in Italy for six years, raising the children with the support of her mother-in-law, while Francesco worked to establish a new life in Australia.

Paola with her children Stefano, Agata and Saverio in Casignana, 1958  – six years apart from Francesco before the family was reunited in Australia.
Credit: Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family 

In 1958, Paola’s long-awaited journey began. With her three children – aged 13, 10 and seven –  she boarded the Oceania in Messina for a gruelling 28-day voyage to Fremantle. The ship carried hundreds of migrants filled with both excitement and uncertainty, singing songs, sharing stories and holding fast to memories of the homes they had left behind.

When the Oceania docked on 3 March, Francesco was waiting at the wharf, overjoyed to finally reunite with his family. Their new home in Hampton Park seemed vast and modern compared to their modest house in Casignana. For Paola, it truly was ‘un altro mondo’ – another world.

From the beginning, Paola embraced her new life with gratitude and determination. The garden became central to the family’s survival and joy. On their large block, they grew vegetables and fruit trees, kept ducks and chickens and recreated the familiar rhythms of Italian village life in an  Australian backyard.

In 1961, the family grew livelier still with the arrival of twin daughters, Antonia and Grazia, whose birth brought fresh laughter and energy to the family.

Paola with twin daughters Antonia and Grazia – born in 1961.
Credit: Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family

Neighbours became like family, and Paola created a home of hospitality and warmth. She and Francesco were the first in their street to buy a television, inviting others to gather in their lounge, where all marvelled at the new technology. Food was always plentiful in her kitchen. She showed neighbours how to make Italian sauce, biscuits and pasta, while they shared recipes for Australian dishes in return. Paola’s home soon became a hub of generosity, friendship and community spirit.

The family’s journey was varied. After years in Perth, they moved to Sydney and later to Torino, Italy, but Paola’s heart was always tied to Western Australia. She cherished the brief but emotional reunion with her mother and brothers in Messina after 16 years apart, but within months longed to return to Western Australia, where her grandchildren lived.

Back in Perth, she settled permanently, working at Bakewell Pies. She remembered fondly the  camaraderie of her colleagues and took pride in contributing to the household through her own wages.

Paola draws water from a spring fountain during her return visit to Italy in 1983 – a gesture that honoured her mother Caterina’s enduring traditions.
Credit:; Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family

Paola’s table became a symbol of love and tradition. She proudly preserved Calabrian customs –from sauce days and sausage-making to the old practice of soap-making. Family gatherings grew to legendary proportions, with more than 60 relatives crowded around long tables laden with ravioli, handmade macaroni rolled on knitting needles, stuffed eggplants, roasted goat, giardiniera and olives from her garden. Her zippoli – savoury with anchovies or sweet with sugar – were always the highlight, a delicacy eagerly awaited and passed down as a treasured family recipe.

Paola and her mother Caterina shaping traditional Calabrian macaroni in Casignana, 1983.
Credit: Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family

Paola’s garden has always been her sanctuary, overflowing with flowers and vegetables, with chickens and ducks roaming in what she fondly called her ‘garden paradise’. Even in later years, Paola tends it daily, guided by the same work ethic that shaped her whole life.

Paola’s greatest joy is her family. As matriarch to 15 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren, she holds each close to her heart and never tires of celebrating their achievements. Her love runs so deep that she is often moved to tears of joy simply at the sight of them. For Paola, family is everything – the true treasure of her life.

At 99, she continues to inspire those around her with resilience, generosity and devotion. Paola is known for her kindness and her abundant hospitality – ‘killing you with food and kindness’, as family and friends fondly say. She embodies the Calabrian nonna – hardworking, nurturing, endlessly giving and proud of the traditions she has kept alive.

Paola’s story is one of endurance, sacrifice and joy. From the clay hills of Casignana to the gardens of Perth, she has lived with strength and gratitude, leaving behind a legacy of love that flourishes in her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

99 years – cake and candles for Paola celebrating her birthday at home.
Credit:; Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family

Cherished grandson Daniel celebrates with Paola on her ninety-ninth birthday.
Credit: Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family