Formula One: Max Verstappen contract extension sets up Daniel Ricciardo for possible Mercedes move in 2019

By Asher Fair | Oct 21, 2017

AUSTIN, TX - OCTOBER 20: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Red Bull Racing prepares to drive in the garage during practice for the United States Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on October 20, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /

Red Bull Racing extended Max Verstappen’s contract through the 2020 Formula One season. This could potentially set up a Daniel Ricciardo move to Mercedes in 2019.

Red Bull Racing extended the contract of Max Verstappen, 20, with the team through the 2020 Formula One season, ending speculation that he would leave the team even before his contract was set to expire at the end of the 2019 season.

But what it also did was set up a potential move involving Red Bull Racing’s other driver, Daniel Ricciardo, 28. It could potentially set up a move for Ricciardo to go to Mercedes in the 2019 season. Here’s why.

Three-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, 32, currently drives for Mercedes, and he has done so since the 2013 season. His contract runs through the end of the 2018 season, but there is no reason to believe he won’t have his contract extended by the team sometime in the near future even despite speculation that he is considering retirement.

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Mercedes’ other driver is Valtteri Bottas, 28, who just started driving for the team this past season. However, he only recently signed a one-year deal to remain with the team through the 2018 season, so it’s pretty clear than the team is not sold on him as a solid #2 driver in the long run. Unless he asserts himself as a true championship contender next season, it’s hard to see him returning to the team in the 2019 season.

With Max Verstappen, who Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admitted he had interest in signing as early as the 2019 season, officially off the table for the team until 2021, they will do what they can to sign the next best option, who will actually be on the market at the end of the 2018 season. That next best option is Red Bull Racing’s other driver, Daniel Ricciardo.

Red Bull Racing has gone out and shown the world that they are committed to building the team around the 20-year-old Verstappen by extending his contract through the 2020 season, so unless they can assert themselves as a legitimate championship team within the next year, Ricciardo would be smart to move on after the 2018 season. And Mercedes would be smart to sign him.

Here is what Ricciardo had to say about the prospects of moving to Mercedes.

"“I’ve said for a long time Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton would be the guys I’d love to see myself against. But while Lewis is in his prime I would like to challenge him and see. If I can be in fast car, if I can be with a top team, that’s the criteria. That would be the biggest thing. But for sure the performance is the number one box to tick.”"

Next: Looking back at Lewis Hamilton's record-setting accomplishment

It’s clear that with Max Verstappen not set to hit the market until the 2021 season, Daniel Ricciardo would be the best option for Mercedes to replace Valtteri Bottas with after the 2018 season. How would Ricciardo measure up to the performance of the other Mercedes driver, the three-time and soon-to-be four-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton?

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