Ricciardo tipped to join Mercedes

Formula One expert James Allen has tipped Daniel Ricciardo to ditch Red Bull at the end of the 2018 campaign to join Mercedes and partner Lewis Hamilton as he reckons that he will not get the better of Max Verstappen if he extends his current deal, set to run out at the end of this season.

Ricciardo has five Grand Prix victories to his name, but has never been a true contender for the world championship and has not finished higher than third in the driver rankings in his career.

He is, however, recognised as a supremely talented driver behind the wheel and both Mercedes and Ferrari have been tipped to try and poach him from Red Bull should they drop the services of Valtteri Bottas or Kimi Raikkonen respectively.

Allen thinks the best place for him could be with the Silver Arrows.

“I think it’s going to be very hard for him to beat Verstappen in the same car, so even if the new Red Bull is a race winner he has to move on for the sake of his career,” Allen said.

“Unless he can find some way to unsettle the Dutchman, as Nico Rosberg managed with Lewis Hamilton in 2016.

“But looking at the pair and their characters, it doesn’t seem to be in Ricciardo to do that. It would be more likely the other way around.

“Verstappen has all the hallmarks of a once in a generation driver, the only things that would stop him being a multiple champion are; being in the wrong car and losing discipline and focus in his life.

“If he decides to move on, Mercedes and Ferrari both have openings at the end of 2018 and Ricciardo has already been linked with both.”

Allen went on to say that another destination for the Australian could be McLaren, with boss Zak Brown having a previous working relationship with Ricciardo.

“McLaren is another possibility for Ricciardo due to a strong relationship with Zak Brown, but they are some way off winning a world title and that is Ricciardo’s first order priority in the next two to three years,” Allen continued.

“After that he risks what happened to Fernando Alonso; younger drivers like Hamilton, Vettel and Verstappen came along and there was no longer an opening in a title worthy car.”