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via Getty

via Getty

Daniel Ricciardo has been one of the top F1 drivers of this generation. The Aussie at one point in his Red Bull career was strongly linked to a seat at Ferrari. Although Ricciardo also revealed he was open to this move to the team in Red, he was uncertain as to how he would get out of his contract with Red Bull.

Speaking about the rumor, Ricciardo, to the official F1 website, said, “I don’t even know where the rumors started actually – it’s really exploded. Ferrari is probably the only top team potentially with a seat open, which is why I guess my name and a few others have been linked to that.”

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However, Ricciardo re-iterated his will to stay at Red Bull, “Obviously it is nice to be regarded by a top team like that – it’s nice to know there is interest from other teams as well. But I am with a top team too.”

Ricciardo called the whole ordeal, “a bit of a laugh”.

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Since then Ricciardo has gone on to leave Red Bull and drive for Renault. After a short while, he left Renault and joined McLaren. However, even before his switch to McLaren, there was a door open for the Aussie to move to Ferrari.

Daniel Ricciardo nearly made the move to Ferrari over McLaren

As it was announced that Sebastian Vettel will be leaving Ferrari at the end of the 2020 season, a lot of people tipped Daniel Ricciardo to replace the German. However, Ferrari ended up deciding on Carlos Sainz which made Ricciardo move to McLaren.

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via Reuters

Speaking about the possibility of a move to Ferrari in 2020, Ricciardo said, “There have been discussions already from a few years back. And that continued all the way through to now, so yeah, I won’t deny that. But obviously it’s never really come to fruition.”

Talking about Ferrari’s decision to go with Carlos Sainz he said. “I see how Carlos is a fit for the team. So I don’t really look at it like ‘why not me?’ I just look at it: Yeah, Carlos had a very strong 2019. Yeah, he’s a bit of hot property right now, and I guess it’s a good fit for where they are at.”

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However, Ricciardo’s move to McLaren has not gone to plan with him struggling in 2022. His 2021 also did not live up to the hype. In the meantime, Ricciardo is focused on changing his fortunes in the second half of this 2022 season.