Daniel Ricciardo reveals that discussions with Ferrari remained basic

After leaving Red Bull at the end of 2018, Daniel Ricciardo went to take on the Renault challenge. However, the adventure with the diamond-shaped firm was short-lived as the Honey Badger only stayed for two short seasons in the French team.

The Australian seized the pole held by McLaren and quickly signed for the team based in Woking at the dawn of the 2020 season.

Shortly after signing, Ricciardo admitted that there had been contact with Scuderia Ferrari, but that it had not been followed up. Indeed, Carlos Sainz was chosen by the leaders of Maranello to replace Sebastian Vettel in 2021.

In an interview with ESPN, the Australian driver discussed his relationship with Ferrari. It never got close enough for any paperwork to be exchanged. There were a few phone calls, but even then, we never got into details like numbers, years. Let’s just say we never reached step 2. It always stayed at a basic level.

Ricciardo also added that joining Ferrari is no longer relevant, and that joining the Scuderia has never been an ultimate dream. The Australian clarified that his dream was not to race for the team with the prancing horse, but to be in Formula 1.

Now the replacement of Carlos Sainz at McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo is experiencing a difficult start to the season and is evolving in the shadow of his young teammate Lando Norris. While he finished one lap down from the Briton during the Monaco race, ‘the Aussie’ will take advantage of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to do a reset, and try to settle in and tame his new car.