Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber is certain the man who replaced him, Daniel Ricciardo, will be staying his current seat for 2019 and beyond.
The Australian, who went on to win the WEC title with Porsche before retiring in 2016, is now a pundit and remains in close contact with his fellow countryman, who has been considering options away from the Milton Keynes outfit for next season.
The 29-year-old is still yet to put pen to paper, citing a need for clarity regarding Red Bull’s decision to switch to Honda, but with neither Mercedes nor Ferrari considering him Webber doesn’t see a good enough reason for Ricciardo to go anywhere.
“I’d imagine he’ll be staying,” he told Speedcafe.com. “I don’t know how long obviously that commitment will be, but, let’s see. It was worth waiting but (he’s) probably going to stay where he is.
“He’s in that sensational window at the moment where his stock is very, very high but we all know Lewis Hamilton is the main man.
“I mean, there is still main men, and that’s what Formula 1 can be like, and you’ve got to sort of be in the right place, (at the) right time in a way to get those opportunities.”
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McLaren has been the most obvious team to show interest in the seven-time Grand Prix winner and Ricciardo did claim there was some “appeal” in going to a current midfield team, however, Webber saw that claim as nothing more than a negotiating tool.
“That (Red Bull) was all he had, really,” he claimed. “Telling these others teams, sort of midfield at best, (they were) on the radar, I don’t know if that was just a bit of sort of bargaining to try and get Red Bull to move a bit.
“But at the end of the day, I spoke to him about it, he knows what my feelings are on this and you know it’s tricky to find if it’s greener somewhere else.
“The teams that are winning at the moment are settled and to try and get that last seat is extremely difficult.”
