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RICCIARDO ON FERRARI WISH LIST

Daniel Ricciardo on Ferrari's wish list should Sebastian Vettel retire - Photo: LAT

By Bruce Williams

Daniel Ricciardo on Ferrari's wish list should Sebastian Vettel retire - Photo: LAT

Daniel Ricciardo on Ferrari’s wish list should Sebastian Vettel retire – Photo: LAT

Aussie hot-shoe Daniel Ricciardo and Finland’s ice-cool Valtteri Bottas are at the top of Ferrari’s very short wish list to replace Sebastian Vettel should he decide to leave Formula 1 at the end of the year.

By DAN KNUTSON

Vettel retiring is a big “if” but it has been enough for Ferrari to put out informal feelers via intermediaries to both the Ricciardo and Bottas camps, F1 sources tell Auto Action.

Vettel’s Ferrari contract runs through 2020. He lives and breathes Formula 1, so from one side there is little reason for him to depart. Yet he has also had an up and down season so far, and he is having to deal with the challenge from his fleet new teammate Charles Leclerc.

Ricciardo has a two-year contract with Renault, but AA hears that there is a clause that allows him to leave at the end of 2019 if he has an offer to join Mercedes or Ferrari in 2020.

But Ricciardo, whom both Mercedes and Ferrari considered but bypassed for 2019, may be reluctant to leave Renault for Ferrari in 2020 or even 2021 because, although Renault is having a hard time to get free of the midfield, the Perth native believes in its long-term success potential.

Bottas became a free agent on July 1 after Mercedes did not pick up its option on him by the June 30 deadline. This is not because Mercedes does not want to retain Bottas, but instead the team keeping its options open as long as possible. Mercedes has told Bottas that he will get a final yes or no answer by the end of August.

Bottas is the perfect foil for Hamilton. They get along well, so there is no inter-team bickering or, far worse, bitter, deadly rivalry. And Hamilton is the perfect teammate for Bottas as his own skills force the Finn to drive faster.

Besides, what are the alternatives for Mercedes? Sources tell AA that Mercedes is losing interest in Esteban Ocon who is currently on a one-year leave of absence from F1. Ocon was due to drive for Renault in 2019, but the team opted for Ricciardo when the Australian decided at the last minute not to stay at Red Bull.

George Russell is doing a solid job in his rookie season with Williams, but Mercedes wants him to have another year learning the ropes with another team.

Lando Norris is also having a great rookie season, but he is with McLaren which won’t want to release him to another team.

Red Bull’s racing chief Helmut Marko has confirmed that Max Verstappen has a “get out” clause in his Red Bull contract, which will be based on the results he and the team have achieved by a certain point of this season. His recent victory in the Austrian Grand Prix may have been enough to meet the requirements to keep him at Red Bull.

In a press conference during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend a journalist asked Verstappen if he would reveal details of his contract escape clause.

“What do you think, my friend?” Verstappen shot back. “Of course not! Why would I? I know, but I don’t care.”

Anyway, Ferrari already has its star-of-the-future in 21-year-old Charles Leclerc, so it won’t want to bring in the 21-year-old Verstappen which could create a toxic paring.

Mercedes, too, is focused on Lewis Hamilton, Yet the 34-year-old would not mind having Verstappen as a teammate.

“I think the team’s pretty happy with Valtteri and me,” Hamilton said. “So I do know Max is definitely interested in opportunities. I don’t know, maybe. If there is, then great. I don’t mind driving with (Verstappen). I’ll drive against whoever.”

The bottom line is that Mercedes is very likely to retain Bottas, and Vettel is unlikely to retire at the end of this season. But Ferrari has initiated moves to make sure it is not suddenly left without two top drivers in 2020, and Ricciardo and Bottas are at the top of the wish list for the Prancing Horse team.

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