Mark Webber has questioned whether Charles Leclerc prevented Daniel Ricciardo from getting his chance at Ferrari.
The Australian was considered arguably the strongest candidate to move to Maranello in the case of Sebastian Vettel leaving at the end of this year, due to his past success and his own contract expiring at Renault.
However, while Vettel is moving on, instead it will be Carlos Sainz taking the four-time world champion’s seat, while Ricciardo is off to McLaren.
“It’s been twice that the Maranello opportunity was there. For whatever reason – we all think it’s just a total slam dunk that it should happen – but it hasn’t,” Webber said on the F1 Nation podcast, noting the former Red Bull driver also held talks in 2018.
“Why couldn’t he agree terms with Maranello, were they motivated? I know he’s close to Charles, is he too close to Charles? I have no idea, is that something they would have considered?
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“But ultimately, twice, between the pair of them they haven’t been able to sort out their relationship.
“So then that leaves him with a move because obviously the Renault marriage has been challenging for him.”
While Ricciardo’s friendship with Leclerc might be one reason, ex-GP2 driver turned pundit, Davide Valsecchi, believes Ferrari has simply chosen the Monegasque to lead the Scuderia into the future.
“Yes I think it is [the right choice] because my personal thinking is that Ferrari will suffer a lot with driver management this year,” the Italian said of the decision to split with Vettel.
“Ferrari is going to suffer this season but they will be fine next year.
“They are going to give Carlos Sainz the chance of his life, becoming one of the main Spanish sports stars in the world, but he is going to be on the shoulder of Leclerc.
“Ferrari chose Charles with a new five-year contract which is one of the longest in Formula 1 history. It seems like he is going to be the new [Michael] Schumacher for them.”
Despite seeing Ricciardo miss out on wearing red though, Webber isn’t too disheartened to see him join McLaren.
“So with the Mercedes engine, I think the independent teams – especially McLaren – are going to do pretty well out of this new stuff going forward,” said the fellow former Red Bull driver.
“I think it’s all upside for them. I don’t see any downside for McLaren if they can get through this tough time. Their main lap time must get closer to the pole position.”