The last two races for Daniel Ricciardo have been absolute disasters. Compounding matters is none of it was his fault.
Ricciardo’s understandable frustration has been well documented in the past couple of days, and maybe not so surprisingly that once again has generated the speculation of a possible move to Ferrari as soon as next season.
But would that be the best decision for Ricciardo to make? Is Ferrari the right team for him to go to rather then staying at Red Bull?
The first issue with that is his current contract with Red Bull. Team boss Christian Horner earlier in the year stating they had a long term contract with Ricciardo. However he was not prepared to mention what the length of the current contract was, saying that was confidential.
It has been reported former teammate Sebastian Vettel was able to exit Red Bull using a championship clause that was in his contract to do it. It is unlikely there would be such a clause in Ricciardo’s contract, and given the teams improvement this year and subsequent performance it is unlikely both driver and team are not meeting the clauses stipulated within the contract.
If we were to assume for a moment that there was an avenue Ricciardo could go down to get to Ferrari for next season, would it be the best move he could make for his career? Many would instantly suggest it is simply because it is Ferrari in the discussion.
But it in fact may not be the right move for him to make.
For Ferrari have not been without their issues this season. Once again they have not performed to preseason expectations, and not challenging in the way many predicted they would. Ricciardo’s current team Red Bull is now threatening potentially to overtake Ferrari.
As it stands as we speak Ricciardo can have every confidence that Red Bull are finally headed in the right direction. He stated earlier in the year he needed to be able to see the progress, to see the light at the end of the tunnel and that is now clearly visible.
Ricciardo saying in Melbourne that once they received the engine upgrade he expected to be spraying a lot more champagne, and it seems that is certainly going to be the case.
He would be able to see there is every potential for them to pass Ferrari and Challenge Mercedes before Ferrari can. Then consider the murmurings as of late about the unrest within Ferrari, speculation about potential personnel changes etc.
There is also one more important reason as to why Ferrari may not be the best place for him to go.
Aside from not knowing when Ferrari will actually be able to challenge and it seeming possible Red Bull will be able to challenge before Ferrari there is the four time world champion at Ferrari. Who for obvious reasons is the main man at the team, who will always be the main man and give first priority.
Ricciardo has strong aspirations to be world champion and that could prove to be extremely challenging when your teammate is the face of the team, and Ferrari will always push to ensure he has success.
Right now at Red Bull Ricciardo is the main driver, and he has every opportunity to retain that. With that comes a great opportunity to win the world championship when Red Bull are ready to fully challenge again, and they will challenge again at some point.
On face value at the moment it may just be sooner rather then later.
When you consider every aspect, assess the pros and cons of remaining at Red Bull there are a number of reasons to stick with the team rather then leave.
Yes there is no justifying the team’s errors in the last two races. As frustrating for Ricciardo as that is they have still given him so much more then they have taken from him.
With Red Bull’s progress this season, further improvements with the engine to come, already having a chasis that is second to none if he were to remain with the team he could feel confident his title opportunties will come. They are threatening already to surpass Ferrari.
Staying where he is at this stage would be the wise choice, for he knows they are headed very much in the right direction.
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