After a stunning, and perhaps a rather fortuitous drive from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, the media is awash this week with speculation – Ricciardo beating Vettel, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen at the Chinese Grand Prix has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons in terms of where the Australian might go next.
The Australian is still out of contract at the end of the 2018 season and last weekend’s victory will have no doubt added some value onto his price tag.
Sky sports’ Martin Brundle has already kicked off the debate and given the tabloids a few headlines with his predictions –
“Let me throw this outrageous curveball. Hamilton doesn’t seem particularly happy at the moment, and I can imagine he will be super expensive to hire for his next Merc contract too. If that isn’t already signed, would Mercedes go for the four-and-a-half-year younger Ricciardo instead?”
So Ricciardo replacing Hamilton? It’s possible if rather improbable.
Could a move to Ferrari be on the cards? Again, Brundle puts that out there speculating that “Kimi feels unloved and unlucky at Ferrari at the moment”, and certainly he won’t be at Ferrari for yet another season?
Nico Rosberg suggests that “If I were him, I would go to Ferrari. He knows he can beat Sebastian and Ferrari has the best car right now. ” referring to the 2014 Red Bull pairing of Daniel Ricciardo and previous 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Ricciardo blew the German away in the team battle, even winning races in a hugely unreliable Renault powered Red Bull at the time when Mercedes dominance began. Ricciardo beating Vettel at Red Bull might be a double edged sword however.
Right now, perhaps actually the best bet is for a 1 year extension to Red Bull, assuming they carry on with Renault for 2019. Red Bull seems to be on the resurgence with decent race pace early on this season, Mercedes are in no mans land with their ‘Star’ driver not in a happy place, whilst Ferrari are unlikely to go against Vettel who at this stage wouldn’t want Ricciardo back in his team. Add to this Verstappen’s penchant at shooting himself in the foot with silly driver errors, perhaps his best off where he is.
Where do you think Ricciardo should go for 2019? Give your reasons in the comments below.
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I have no idea what is happening with my computer….. so I’m going to stop now and go back to work.
What happened to my 2 previous posts?
Ferrari for me. So that Vettel can proof he is a better racer and when he becomes the first 9 times wdc nobody can hold 2014 against him anymore. 😉
It would be interesting to see Vettel V Ricciardo in a streight fight in the same car when Vettel is not trying to activate a get-out clause from his contract. Personally I think Vettel would win hands down as (IMO) two of his three wins against Vettel in 2014 were due to Ricciardo being ‘lucky’ e.g. Hungary when he was first into the pits (and hence the lead) after the safety car when Vettel was running third behind the two Mercs, way ahead of Ricciardo.
I’m not convinced he will go to Ferrari, though as (sticking my neck out here) I think Kimi may stay on for another year!!!
I think Merc’s dominance is on the decline and Red Bull may have the option of two engines for next year, so my money’s on him staying put.
Ferrari???? Would they ALLOW Danny to beat Seb? I think not, no way, not hap’nin’! Admittedly, I thought Seb wasn’t really trying to win in his last year at RB.
The big question is: is there any reason to sign with a company that threatens with a breakaway series?
That all depends who is in the breakaway series.
Just curious. How do you envision this “breakaway series”?
To begin with one where the teams own the series and the charade of being “road relevant” ends and it returns to pure racing without the political / PC policies of the FIA or Liberty………..
well, maybe to stay at RB is the best – Max ain’t ready yet, whereas Ferrari are too much 1 and 2 driver stance and Merc are somewhat too pragmatic/stagnant especially on strategy. Red Bull are the most creative squad and they seem to be returning back to their best mode, last seen 2009 – 2013
From 2009 – 2013 RB had a car capable of winning both the Constructors and Drivers WC. They don’t now and won’t as long as they stick with Renault and it’s questionable whether a move to Honda brings them to Ferrari and M-B level.
I suspect Ricciardo is waiting to find out which engine RB are going to use next year and then make his decision.