Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has taken Daniel Ricciardo’s name out of the running for the vacant Mercedes Formula 1 seat in 2025, clarifying that he has a “long-term” deal.
Following the announcement that Lewis Hamilton will be heading to Ferrari next year, Mercedes is now in the process of searching for a driver to partner with George Russell.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed he was in no rush to name a replacement, citing that the team was unsure which route it was looking to head down with a replacement.
As a multiple-time grand prix winner, Ricciardo would emerge as an ideal candidate to slot alongside Russell if it was searching for a more experienced option.
But according to F1-Insider.com, Marko has disclosed that the Australian retains a “long-term contract” with the parent Red Bull company and “is not available” for 2025.
Having been axed by McLaren at the end of 2022, Ricciardo returned to the Red Bull stable last year and was handed an F1 reprieve with its second-string squad in July.
Although he would be sidelined for five races with a broken hand sustained in a crash at Zandvoort, Ricciardo has been retained at the rebranded RB squad for this season.
The Faenza-based camp will capitalise on closer technical ties with Red Bull, with its VCARB 01 car adopting the pull-rod front suspension from the title-winning RB19.
READ MORE: Ricciardo: RB aiming for ‘top five results’ from the outset in F1 2024
While Ricciardo harbours ambitions of a return to the senior Red Bull team, the 34-year-old insists that his current focus is on delivering a strong campaign this term.
“I am by no means looking that far ahead,” he told RACER at RB’s 2024 car launch.
“In this part of my career, I think looking far ahead kind of feels like one year closer to the end. So it’s more reason for me to be present now and definitely take it race by race.
“So silly season, part of me is also happy to not be in all these crazy things, especially this early in the season. So if the silly season happens without me, I’m also OK with that right now!”
Ricciardo says that he wasn’t stunned by the revelation that Hamilton will be leaving Mercedes for Ferrari, but he did concede that the timing of the news caught him unaware.
“Not surprised in the sense that, could I have ever seen him in red? Yes,” he said.
“I could see in his career and the legacy piece and all of that, of course. And obviously, it’s a good team, so he’s got a chance of winning there, for sure.
“But I was just more thrown by the timing. I think.
“Obviously I don’t know the internal stuff that goes on there, so obviously there’s reasons why it got announced as early as it did.
But that part was what threw me more than him going to Ferrari.”
While Hamilton’s impending departure has left Mercedes in a troubled predicament, Ricciardo contends that the advance notice will allow the team to be well-prepared.
“I look at Mercedes now, they’ve got a whole year to figure out what they’re going to do,” he added. “And I assume in their position, they’re in no rush.
“So they’ll assess everyone, how they’re doing, the driver market, whatever. So I guess for someone like them, it’s probably a good position to be in.”
Discussion about this post