Daniel Ricciardo
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, 28, is set to be the hottest free agent on the market assuming he and Red Bull Racing do not come to terms on a new contract for the 2019 Formula 1 season and beyond, which is certainly still possible at this point.
Through six races so far this season, three drivers have won at least one race. All three of those drivers have won two races. One of those three drivers, four-time champion Lewis Hamilton, drivers for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. Another one of those three drivers, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, drives for Ferrari. The other one of those three drivers is Ricciardo.
Ricciardo’s success so far this season, which is the main reason why he sits in third place in the driver standings behind Hamilton and Vettel and ahead of the other two Mercedes and Ferrari drivers despite the fact that he has been forced to retire in two of the six races contested so far this season, has caused him to be in the discussion to either replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes or Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari next season.
Talk of Ricciardo leaving Red Bull Racing for Mercedes or Ferrari didn’t just begin recently, however. It has been going on for quite some time. His success so far this season, which has shot his career Formula 1 victory total from five to seven, has simply made the talk of him possibly replacing either Bottas or Raikkonen far more prevalent than it previously was, and it has made him actually doing so far more realistic than it previously was.
With Mercedes not looking to hire a driver from a rival team to replace Bottas if they decide to replace him next season, which they still very well might not do, Ferrari appear to be a legitimate option for Ricciardo next season unless Red Bull Racing continue to give him a car in which he can win multiple races throughout the rest of this season. He has until August to decide whether or not he wants to remain with Red Bull Racing in the 2019 season.