Soon after securing their short-term future, effectively ruling them out of the chaotic 2024 silly season, Mercedes was thrown back in the pit, courtesy of Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari. Several drivers have been linked with the Brackley outfit after the Brit’s bombshell announcement. However, we have no concrete news on Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes so far. So while the cards are still on the table, former F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella has put Daniel Ricciardo’s name in the mix.

The Australian has gone through a rollercoaster of emotions in the past two seasons. However, after getting his second lease on F1 life and facing more setbacks, he has persevered and impressed many in the process. Fisichella is among those many and he made it evident with his suggestion of Ricciardo replacing Hamilton at Mercedes in an exclusive with OLBG.

He said, “Daniel has spent time as Red Bull’s third driver, where he did well until his accident and wrist injury. It’s difficult to predict what his future holds. It will be nice for him to have a good car this year and how good he is because he has a lot of experience and it will be good for a top team to have him. It’s difficult to say.

Then he gave his vote of confidence for once out-of-favor Australian to fill the biggest void left in a team by a driver in recent times. “Daniel Ricciardo could be a good replacement for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes because Mercedes need a driver with his experience,” he concluded.

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We are not sure who will occupy the second seat for the 2025 season. However, until the team finds a replacement, it doesn’t hurt weighing different options and as far as options go, Ricciardo surely isn’t a bad one. Whether he wants to is a different story altogether because we believe Ricciardo’s heart lies at Red Bull and he’s made it evident on multiple occasions.

Daniel Ricciardo eyeing a dream scenario and fairytale end at Red Bull

The Honey Badger is obviously toward the end of his career and he understands he will have to stop soon. So soon before he received the AlphaTauri call-up, he expressed his dream scenario in F1. The Australian made the honest admission about his fairytale ending in F1, which would be at Red Bull.

When asked if he’s like a promotion to the Red Bull seat in the future, he said, “This, for me, would be like the fairytale. Honestly, the fairytale ending [would be] to finish my career here if I could have it all my own way. But we’ll see. I’ll probably have to work my way up a little bit but it’s really nice to be back here.”

Soon after this admission, his life was on track and he was driving in F1 for AlphaTauri. Now in the 2024 season, he will work his way to secure a drive in 2025 at Red Bull because his fairytale end was not part of the plan in 2024.

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Now the 2024 season will give the Australian more clarity on what options he has in the future. If he doesn’t get the Red Bull option, we predict he might take up the Mercedes offer if given the option. Too many moving parts in the silly season, and it’ll surely be one to remember.