Ricciardo Taking It 'Race By Race' Amid Mercedes Seat Speculations

Sunday, 11 February 2024 at 14:00

Daniel Ricciardo discussed his plans for the future in relation to the Mercedes seat speculations, as he could be one of the candidates.

The RB F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo suggested that what caught off guard about Lewis Hamilton's announcement of going to Ferrari wasn't the news itself but rather the timing.

It is unusual, but Mercedes has one more season with the seven-time World Champion already knowing they need to search for a replacement. That has its negatives, but at least the team doesn't need to make rushed decisions. Ricciardo told Racer:

"I look at Mercedes now, they’ve got a whole year to figure out what they’re going to do. And I assume in their position, they’re in no rush."

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There are also quite a lot of candidates for the seat, as most of the current drivers on the grid have their contracts expiring at the end of the upcoming season.

"So they’ll assess everyone, how they’re doing, the driver market, whatever. So, I guess for someone like them, it’s probably a good position to be in."

Drivers like Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Carlos Sainz, or Esteban Ocon have been connected with possible moves to Mercedes, but not many people talk about Ricciardo, who also could be a potential candidate for the seat. He said:

"I am by no means looking that far ahead. In this part of my career, I think looking far ahead kind of feels like one year closer to the end. So it’s more reason for me to be present now and definitely take it race by race."

The Australian driver mentioned quite recently his dream would be to finish his career with Red Bull Racing. For now, he added, he is happy to wait out the silly season on the sidelines.

"So yeah, silly season, part of me is also happy to not be in all these crazy things, especially this early in the season. So if the silly season happens without me, I’m also OK with that right now!"