Formula 1: 3 possible landing spots for Daniel Ricciardo in 2021

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BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 26: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia driving the (3) Renault Sport Formula One Team RS20 (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /

Renault

It is no secret that Daniel Ricciardo did not have the first season he wanted to have with Renault, finishing in ninth place in the driver standings without a podium finish after securing seven victories and 29 podium finishes in five seasons at Red Bull Racing.

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But he maintained throughout the season that he was not regretful of his decision to move on to Renault, at least not in 2019. Additionally, everybody, including himself knew that it wasn’t going to be easy.

While he stated that he would answer calls from other teams regarding his potential availability for the 2021 season and possibly beyond, he remains committed to trying to make it work at Renault in the second year of his two-year contract.

Here is what Ricciardo had to say about the matter, according to Formula 1.

"“I will answer [their] calls for sure, but I most importantly want this to work [with Renault]. I don’t want it to feel like I’ve just come to Renault, got away from Red Bull and then I’m looking for the next best thing [somewhere else]. “I really want to make this happen and make it work, and obviously the step to that is getting more out of this year than we did last year, and hopefully getting enough out of it that the journey continues beyond my two-year contract. “That’s the, let’s say, ideal scenario. To talk about other what-ifs and the future here and there, it’s still too early, and… you don’t want to rock the boat obviously as well, but…we haven’t even started this year so to already start thinking about ’21…I can’t think about it now.”"

In the 2019 season, Ricciardo finished in a season-high fourth place in the Italian Grand Prix, and this was one of his five top six finishes. He finished 16 of the season’s 21 events and recorded eight lead-lap finishes. There is definitely room for improvement, but the season wasn’t a totally lost cause.

Even though Cyril Abiteboul hinted that the team would like to pair Esteban Ocon with a younger driver, it is hard to see them passing up the opportunity to re-sign Ricciardo if he doesn’t land a better ride, especially given what could be the subliminal meaning behind that message.

Ricciardo had been discussed as a potential McLaren driver during his final season at Red Bull Racing as well, but he ultimately signed with Renault before McLaren went with rookie Lando Norris and former Red Bull Racing and Renault driver Carlos Sainz Jr. They do not look like they will deviate from that lineup anytime soon.

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Will Daniel Ricciardo be back with Renault in the 2021 Formula 1 season, or will he leave the team for one of the potentially open seats at Ferrari or Mercedes? Will he pull off another shocking move and leave Renault for a different team, like he did in 2018 when he left Red Bull Racing for Renault?

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