MOTORSPORT: Ricciardo 'a real possibility' for Ferrari

Daniel Ricciardo is being seen within Formula 1 as "a real possibility" for a Ferrari drive in 2021 if Lewis Hamilton doesn't end up in the stable of the prancing horse to complete what could be the most illustrious of careers.

Max Verstappen this week committed to Red Bull Racing, now benefiting from Honda's greatly-improved power unit, until the end of 2023.

Charles Leclerc, the most recent addition to the ranks of Grand Prix winners, had already signed on at Ferrari for five more seasons.

The big questions now are whether 35-year-old Hamilton will remain with Mercedes after what could be a seventh world title this year to equal Michael Schumacher's record, and whether Sebastian Vettel will retire after his sixth season at Ferrari.

The German and the prancing horse have not fulfilled each other’s dreams and now Leclerc is the blue-eyed boy at Maranello.

Which raises the possibility of carsales.com.au global ambassador Ricciardo joining him after the Australian's two-year contract with Renault expires at the end of 2020.

An article on the official F1 website, Formula1.com, suggests just that, with Hamilton ultimately expected to stay at Mercedes.

A seven-time Grand Prix winner with Red Bull Racing before being lured away by Renault – which then dropped a spot in the constructors' world championship to fifth, behind Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and and McLaren (with Renault's power unit) – 30-year-old Ricciardo is now the fifth most experienced driver in F1.

"Once the Hamilton-Mercedes domino falls, attention will switch to Renault's Daniel Ricciardo," says Formula1.com senior writer Lawrence Barretto.

"The Honey Badger's big-money contract expires at the end of the [2020] season, and he'll have his eye on the potential vacancies at both Mercedes and Ferrari.

"He spoke to Mercedes about 2019 but he was ultimately overlooked in favour of Valtteri Bottas and left Red Bull for Renault instead.

"If Bottas delivers a similarly strong campaign to that of 2019, you'd expect Mercedes to keep hold of him.

"Either way, Mercedes will likely delay a decision on Hamilton's teammate, perhaps with an eye on watching how their junior George Russell performs in his second season at Williams.

"But all is not lost for Ricciardo. Ferrari are a real possibility.

"The Australian was immense during his time at Red Bull and, while he couldn't get the better of Verstappen in their final season together, he showed enough heart and ability to suggest he remains one of the best racers in the sport.

"What Ferrari need is a harmonious driver pairing. Mercedes' current line-up is proof of its importance.

"Ricciardo wouldn't settle for being a number two, per se, but he would not be disruptive and it's hard to see him throwing his toys out of the pram in the way some of his rivals do.

"Ricciardo would push Leclerc hard, but race him cleanly, and he would fall into line if he was required to help Leclerc's title bid when his own ambitions were over. (Barretto could have pointed out that Ricciardo would expect the same support from Leclerc in the reverse situation).

"He is fluent in Italian, too, which would aid his integration, and is absolutely a great personality for the brand.

"He's also been of interest to Ferrari in the past."

Barretto points out that Ferrari is in "a very strong negotiating position", that Spaniard Carlos Sainz Junior – now with McLaren – is another possibility for it, and that the most famous team in F1 is "in absolutely no rush to make a decision".

"It might be that Vettel will call time on his career anyway," Barretto says.

"Ricciardo et al will likely have to wait until the [northern] summer."

Meanwhile, the 2020 F1 season is now little more than two months away, starting in Melbourne on March 15-17.

Australia could have four young drivers in this year's European-based Formula 3 Championship, which has been a stepping stone to F1 for many and its races are on the support card at continental GPs.

Mick Doohan's son Jack has just been confirmed in a seat with Mercedes team HWA, West Australian Calan Williams will be with Swiss team Jenzer Motorsport and Tasmanian Alex Peroni is hopeful of a return after his big – and financially costly – crash at Monza in September.

But the plum ride is expected to be Melbourne's European Formula Renault champion Oscar Piastri with the Italian-based Prema team, which filled the top three places in the championship last year.

The first Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia is nearing its halfway point, with Carlos Sainz – father of the F1 driver – having become the first four-wheel competitor to win two stages this year.

The X-Raid MINI ace, twice a winner of the Dakar in South America after two world rally titles, leads Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah in a Toyota HiLux by almost six minutes.

Stephane Peterhansel, the most successful competitor – on two and four wheels – in Dakar history is third but almost 18 minutes behind 'El Matador' Sainz in another MINI.

F1 legend Fernando Alonso is hanging in there on his Dakar debut after a crash on day two that cost him a lot of time. He's had two top 10 finishes in his Toyota but is more than three hours off the lead.

South African Giniel de Villiers gave the Japanese manufacturer its only stage win so far this year, but sand dune specialist Al-Attiyah is expected to come on strong in the second and final week.

Australia's two-time motorcycle victor in the Dakar, Toby Price, won his second stage this year overnight but, after leading on his KTM at the first overnight stop, is more than nine minutes behind American Ricky Brabec on a Honda.

The Asian Le Mans Series makes a low-key debut in Australia this weekend, with LMP2, LMP3, GT and GT Cup cars racing on the longest circuit – 7.7km – at The Bend in South Australia for a four-hour race on Sunday.

Few of the drivers in the 25 cars entered are known to Aussie fans, but Supercar superstar Shane Van Gisbergen's addition to an all-New Zealander driver line-up in a Ligier sports car adds some local interest.

His co-drivers are former Supercar competitor Daniel Gaunt and Nick Cassidy, predominantly an open-wheel racer.

Among the internationals are two with F1 experience, Indonesian Rio Haryanto and Spaniard Roberto Merhi, who is teamed with expatriate Australian Nick Foster in another Ligier.

Meanwhile, a record 11 GT brands are entered for the Bathurst 12-Hour on February 2.

They are Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Honda, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan and Porsche – and there may yet be more.

Thirty three of the 40 cars entered so far for the 10th 12-Hour are GT3s.

The race will mark the debut of the latest Aston Martin Vantage, McLaren 720S, Honda NSX, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO and the Generation II 991 Porsche GT3 R.

Some driver line-ups are still being finalised. More details closer to the event.