Daniel Ricciardo

Australian racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One from 2011 to 2024. Daniel won eight Formula One Grand Prixs across 14 seasons.

Daniel was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to motor sport as a competitor and ambassador, and to the community".  The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service.

Daniel’s father, Giuseppe "Joe" Ricciardo, was born in Ficcara, Messina, Sicily, but relocated to Australia with his family at seven years of age. Mother, Grace Pulitanò was born in Australia, but had parents originally from Casignana Calabria. Daniel has a sister, Michelle. Growing up in Duncraig, Daniel’s earliest memories of motorsports were of his father racing at the nearby Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo. Daniel attended high school at Newman College.

Daniel with parents Grace and Joe in Monaco, 2018 – celebrating triumph, pride and legacy during the unforgettable ‘Redemption’ race victory.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

Credit: Ricciardo Family

Daniel began competitive kart racing aged nine. Graduating to junior formula in 2005, Daniel won his first championship at the 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup with SG Formula. He then won the 2009 British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin. Ricciardo made his Formula One debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with HRT as part of a deal with Red Bull, for whom he was test driving under its junior team Toro Rosso. He earned a full-time drive with Toro Rosso in 2012 and competed in two seasons for them alongside Jean-Éric Vergne. Ricciardo was promoted to Red Bull in 2014, replacing the retiring Mark Webber to partner four-time defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel. In his first season with Red Bull under Renault power, Daniel finished third in the championship, taking his maiden career win at the Canadian Grand Prix, with further wins in Hungary and Belgium. After a winless 2015 campaign for Red Bull, Daniel returned to the top of the podium at the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix, eventually clinching third in the championship for the second time in three years in Mexico. He took further wins for Red Bull at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017, and the Chinese and Monaco Grands Prix in 2018.

Daniel Ricciardo won the Monaco Grand Prix in 2018. It was one of his most memorable victories, especially as he overcame power unit issues during the race to secure the win from pole position 
Credit: Ricciardo Family

Daniel signed with Renault in 2019, retaining his seat for the 2020 season and achieving multiple podiums. He then joined McLaren in 2021, achieving his only race win and podium for the team at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. He left McLaren at the end of the 2022 season and signed as a reserve driver for former team Red Bull in 2023. From the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix onwards, Daniel replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri; he retained his seat for their 2024 campaign as RB, but was replaced by Liam Lawson after the Singapore Grand Prix.

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

Giuseppina Ricciardo

Life is a wheel that keeps turning.

Giuseppina was born in 1932 in Sinagra, Sicily, one of seven children of Alberto and Giuseppa Vinci. She grew up on a self-sustained property where life was simple yet abundant surrounded by olive groves, fruit trees, goats, and pigs. Her childhood was shaped by the values of hard work, resilience, and family unity. The family pressed their own olive oil, made wine, and produced most of what they needed by hand. From an early age, the girls learned the traditional skills of cooking, sewing, and embroidery—knowledge carefully passed down through generations.

As a teenager, Giuseppina worked seasonally in the olive and hazelnut harvests. The memories of wartime Sicily left a lasting impression—German soldiers arriving in her village, the echo of tanks near their home, and troops retreating into the mountains as the war neared its end.

Giuseppina and Francesco in Sinagra, Italy, around 1950 – reflecting a devoted marriage and enduring Sicilian heritage.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

In the difficult post-war years, with opportunities scarce, her husband Francesco made the life-changing decision to migrate to Australia in 1959. Supported by her three older brothers already there, he worked first in Kalgoorlie and later as a limestone mason in Perth, determined to build a future for his family.

In November 1960, Giuseppina and her children embarked on the Neptunia for a 28-day voyage from Messina to Fremantle, accompanied by her parents and siblings. She carried two wooden trunks filled with linen, utensils, clothing, and family treasures—symbols of a life left behind and hopes for the new world ahead.

Settling first in Osborne Park and Tuart Hill, the family drew strength from extended relatives and the support of businesses like Kakulas Bros, who supplied familiar foods that sustained traditions. 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, bringing the family to six children.

In 1968, Giuseppina and Francesco moved to a five-acre property in Wanneroo to run a market garden together, supplying fresh vegetables to Perth’s early markets. Life was simple but full—baking bread, tending chickens, and sharing stories in Sicilian-accented English. Eventually, the family settled in Balcatta, where Giuseppina has lived for more than fifty years.

Giuseppina during a joyful family celebration in her garden, circa 2024—embracing togetherness in the heart of her beloved home.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

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

Now approaching 92, Giuseppina still cooks, gardens, and lovingly cares for her beloved chickens. Affectionately known as Peppina, Nonna, Bis-Nonna, and Zia Peppina, she is a much-loved Nonna, deeply respected by her family. Her legacy lives on through six children, twelve grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren—a life shaped by love, gratitude, and enduring strength.

Giuseppina with her grandson Daniel Ricciardo.
Credit: Ricciardo Family

Paola Pulitano

Paola was born in 1926 in the seaside hamlet of Casignana, Calabria, a village surrounded by citrus groves, olive trees, and the sparkling Ionian Sea. The landscape was breathtaking, but her childhood unfolded in difficult times. Italy, devastated by the First World War and then shattered again by the Second, struggled with poverty, unemployment, and political turmoil. Families endured shortages of food and housing, and the hardships of survival left deep marks on an entire generation.

In the final years of the war, Paola met Francesco. They married in March 1944 and welcomed three children in quick succession—Saverio in 1945, Stefano in 1947, and Agata in 1950. Though their love was strong, the post-war years were harsh. Francesco longed to give his family a secure future, and in 1952 he migrated to Western Australia on the Castel Bianca. Paola remained in Italy for six years, raising her young children with the help of her mother-in-law, while Francesco worked hard to establish a home in Australia.

Family portrait in Casignana, Reggio Calabria. Left to right Paola with her children Stefano, Agata and Saverio 1958.
Credit: Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family 

In 1958 Paola’s journey began. With her three children, aged thirteen, ten, and seven, she boarded the Oceania in Messina, embarking on a gruelling 28-day voyage to Fremantle. The ship carried hundreds of migrants filled with both excitement and anxiety, singing songs, sharing stories, and clinging to memories of the homes they had left behind. When the ship finally docked on 3 March, Francesco was waiting at the wharf, overjoyed to reunite with his family. Their new home in Hampton Park seemed vast and modern compared to their modest village house in Casignana. For Paola, it felt like “un altro mondo”—another world.

From the very beginning, Paola embraced her new life with gratitude and determination. The garden became central to their family’s survival and joy. On their large block they grew vegetables and fruit trees, raised ducks and chickens, and cultivated the familiar rhythms of Italian village life in their Australian backyard. In 1961 the family grew with the birth of twin daughters, Antonia and Grazia, bringing new laughter and energy to the household.

Paola with twin daughters Antonia and Grazia—born in 1961, a joyful symbol of resilience, renewal, and family life in Australia.
Credit: Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family

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

The family’s journey included moves to Sydney and later 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 sixteen years apart, but within months longed to return to Australia where her son and grandchildren lived. Settling permanently in Perth, she worked at Bakewell Pies, fondly remembering the camaraderie of her colleagues and the pride of contributing to her household through her own wages.

During her return to Italy in 1983, Paola collects water from the nearby spring fountain—honouring her mother Caterina’s enduring tradition.
Credit:; Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family

Paola’s table became a symbol of love and tradition. She preserved Calabrian customs with pride—sauce days, sausage making, and even the old practice of soap-making. Her family gatherings grew to legendary proportions, often with more than sixty relatives crowded around long tables filled with ravioli, handmade macaroni rolled on knitting needles, stuffed eggplants, roasted goat, giardiniera, and olives from her garden. Her zippoli—both savoury with anchovies and sweet with sugar—remain a delicacy eagerly awaited by all, passed down as a treasured family recipe.

Paola and her mother Caterina shaping traditional Calabrian macaroni in Casignana, 1983—honouring family, heritage, and enduring southern Italian traditions.
Credit: Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family

Her garden is her sanctuary, overflowing with flowers and vegetables. Chickens and ducks roamed freely, adding to the abundance of what she fondly called her “garden paradise.” Even into her later years, Paola tends to her garden daily, embodying a work ethic that had defined her entire life.

Paola’s greatest joy is her family. She is the much-loved matriarch of 15 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren. Each one holds a special place in her heart, and she never tires of expressing her pride in their achievements. Her love is so deep that she often sheds tears of joy simply at the sight of them. To Paola, family is everything—the great treasure of her life.

At nearly a century of age, Paola continues to inspire those around her with her resilience, generosity, and devotion. She remains known for her kindness and her abundant hospitality, “killing you with food and kindness,” as friends and family fondly say. She is the embodiment of the Calabrian Nonna: hardworking, nurturing, endlessly giving, and proud of the traditions she has preserved.

Paola’s story is one of endurance, sacrifice, and joy. From the clay hills of Casignana to the gardens of Perth, she has lived a life of strength and gratitude, leaving behind a legacy of love that continues to flourish in her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She truly is one in a million—a Nonna whose life exemplifies the heart of the Italian migrant story in Western Australia.

Paola celebrating her 99th birthday at home, surrounded by generations of love—her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Credit:; Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family

Paola celebrating her 99th birthday, beaming with joy as she shares a heartfelt moment with her cherished grandson Daniel.
Credit: Pulitano Family & Ricciardo Family