Daniel Ricciardo gives insight into past Ferrari negotiations. Ricciardo opens up on his past Ferrari talks.

Australian-Italian racing driver Daniel Ricciardo, who is currently competing in Formula 1 for McLaren, has recently discussed the extent of the negotiations carried out between him and Scuderia Ferrari in the past regarding the possibility of him joining the Maranello team.

Daniel Ricciardo has been one of the strongest drivers in the last decade and he is also half Italian, so unsurprisingly he has been linked with a move to Ferrari on several occasions. However nothing has ever come from such links, as Daniel Ricciardo joined Renault after parting ways with Red Bull Racing before eventually moving to McLaren ahead of the 2021 Formula 1 season, while Scuderia Ferrari focused on Charles Leclerc for the long term and Carlos Sainz for at least two years.

The Australian-Italian racing driver admitted the two parties have spoken in the past, but discussions have never reached an advanced stage: “A while ago, yes” – he said, in an interview for Motorsport Italy when asked if he’d ever spoken with the Scuderia – “But we never sat around a desk with papers to sign, nothing like that. There was some small talk, some quick conversations, but we never got to the point where we talked about contracts. So, there was something but we never got to a second step.” – he added.

Scuderia Ferrari’s strongest years in recent times came in 2017 and 2018, when Sebastian Vettel was able to fight with Lewis Hamilton for the title on both occasions. That was also around the time that Daniel Ricciardo was taking into consideration the possibility of leaving the Red Bull team, with him eventually taking this step at the end of 2018, and he says that it was during this period that he considered a move to Maranello most.

“In my head, it was one of the options, especially when the team was fighting for the championship while Seb was there, the team was in a good position. So Ferrari and Mercedes were the first two teams to be evaluated outside of Red Bull, they were the only truly desirable teams, but I always tried not to be influenced too much by emotion, knowing my Italian origins. I have some photos of me as a child with a Ferrari t-shirt, obviously a gift from my father. They are a fantastic team, I respect them a lot, if mutual needs had intertwined it would have been nice, But I must also say that my dream was to be a Formula 1 driver one day, and I am still very happy with what I have done. and to be where I am today.” – Daniel Ricciardo concluded, as reported by the Italian media.