DANIEL RICCIARDO has refused to be distracted by the “silly season” gossip linking him with a move to Mercedes.
The Australian has been tipped as one of the potential names to take Lewis Hamilton’s seat in 2025.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton is entering his final season with Mercedes after agreeing to join Ferrari next year.
Meanwhile, Ricciardo will drive for Visa Cash App RB, formerly AlphaTauri, in 2024.
He returned to the grid in July after replacing Nyck de Vries at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Asked about his interest in replacing Hamilton at Mercedes this week, Ricciardo explained: “I’m definitely not looking that far ahead.
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“At this part of my career, looking ahead feels a bit like a year closer to the end. So it’s more reason for me to be there now and really take it race by race.
“I guess in their (Mercedes’) position, they are in no rush. So they will judge everyone, how they are doing, the driver market, whatever. So I think this is a good position for them.
“Part of me is also happy not to be involved in all this crazy stuff, especially this early in the season. So if the silly season happens without me, that’s fine with me at this point.”
The 34-year-old has also been linked with a possible return to Red Bull.
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WHO COULD REPLACE HAMILTON AT MERCEDES?
Mercedes will have a vacant seat for 2025.
Here, SunSport’s F1 correspondent Ben Hunt looks at FIVE potential candidates who could replace him and partner George Russell in the Silver Arrows.
Oscar Piastri – McLaren have sewn up Lando Norris to a new long-term contract that should (in theory) put him out of Mercedes’ reach. However, they are yet to tie down his teammate Piastri, 22. The Aussie has an excellent record and won the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles before spending a year on the sidelines with Alpine and getting his chance in F1 with McLaren. He impressed on his debut season last year and has the potential to be a world champion.
Daniel Ricciardo – The experienced driver’s future remains in doubt as he bides his time at Red Bull’s B-team. Ricciardo would be low-hassle and offer some stability but by that time he would be 35. It seems unlikely that they would opt for him at this point in his career, but if he has a good season this year, he could come into the reckoning.
Kimi Antonelli – You may not have heard of the Italian, but he is mustard. Still only 17, he has won at all the junior categories and has been part of the Mercedes young driver programme since 2019. This season he has been promoted from F4 to F2, where he has been tipped to shine. A good debut season in F2 could sway Mercedes into taking a risk on him for 2025. Antonelli and his family are close to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Mick Schumacher – Wolff has always been so incredibly supportive of Schumacher and spoken highly of him, that you’d at least expect him to come into consideration. He knows the team from his role as reserve driver and consequently would get up to speed. But speed is also the problem. He was shocking at Haas and if he really was THAT good, he’d still be driving in F1.
Alex Albon – A more-sensible choice would be the London-born Albon. A great guy who is also very quick. He has a fantastic relationship with Russell and would be the low-maintenance quick partnership similar to Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas that swept to successive titles. Albon would take little convincing to join from Williams and Mercedes would not need to pay him half of the £50million they were dishing out to Hamilton.
His former team could be looking for a new team-mate for Max Verstappen at the end of the year, with Sergio Perez under pressure to perform.
Ricciardo has claimed eight wins and 32 podiums from his 239 F1 starts.
His last race victory came for McLaren at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
The 2024 season is set to get underway with the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir on March 2.
🏁 Complete F1 2024 race calendar – details on every Grand Prix and start time this year 🏁
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
