Formula One's silly season may be in full swing right about now but for one driver, Daniel Ricciardo, his bum is definitely secure in a Red Bull seat for at least the next two years.
As reported this morning, it seems as if Felipe Massa's retirement from the world of Formula One will be quite brief with unconfirmed reports that the Brazilian has accepted an offer to return to his former Williams Team to replace Finnish driver, Valtteri Bottas, who is said to be on his way to Mercedes to replace Nico Rosberg.
Ricciardo has heard the unofficial news about Massa and while he is waiting for something official before fully believing it, he is curious as to why a driver would want to come back after deciding his time in the sport was overโฆ.
โI heard something about that. I don't know how strong it is ...โ Ricciardo told Fox Sports. โI don't really know where I stand with that, actually. Let's see if it holds up. He is a mate and I get on with him very well, but for me ... I'm just trying to work out why he would come back when his heart was set on retiring. But I'll wait to see what's official, we'll see what happens with that. Interesting one. Another curveball in the silly season!โ
If the news about Massa is true, Bottas will be on his way to partner Lewis Hamilton and while Ricciardo thinks the Finn is a good racer, he believes Lewis will prevailโฆ
โBottas is quick, I think he's got a lot of natural speed,โ he said. โBut if I had to put my money on someone it would comfortably go on Lewis.โ