Mark Webber is a little puzzled how fellow Aussie compatriot Daniel Ricciardo has not ended up becoming a Ferrari driver during his career.
Ricciardo has long been linked with a move to Scuderia and appeared to be a leading candidate to replace the outgoing Sebastian Vettel at the end of the 2020 campaign.
But, Ferrari opted for Carlos Sainz and Ricciardo will instead replace the Spaniard at the Woking outfit.
After the dust settled on the official announcements from the respective teams, Ricciardo did confirm that he has regularly held talks with Ferrari but a move obviously never came to fruition.
It has left Webber scratching his head and wondering why the Ferrari switch never materialised for Ricciardo.
“It’s been twice that the Maranello opportunity was there,” Webber said on the F1 Nation podcast.
“For whatever reason – we all think it’s just a total slam dunk that it should happen – but it hasn’t.
“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?
“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.”
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Even though a move to Ferrari has not worked out for Ricciardo, Webber thinks there is plenty of upside to his imminent jump to McLaren.
He added: “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.
“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.”
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