As Italy's media ramps up its pleas for Ferrari to sign Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull's Helmut Marko is telling Mercedes' Toto Wolff not to get excited about recruiting F1's latest race winner.
Ricciardo's spectacular victory in last Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix has likely boosted the Aussie's prospects for 2019.
The 28-year-old is being pursued by Red Bull who want to extend his stay with the Milton Keynes-based squad, but doors also appear to be open at Brackley and at Maranello.
"Ferrari, take Ricciardo!" wrote Luca Budel for Italy's Mediaset.
"While Max is the potential phenomenon, it is Ricciardo who wins the races," he added. "The boy deserves Ferrari's attention."
Alberto Sabbatini, writing for Autosprint, agreed: "Ferrari should take Ricciardo.
"Red Bull is paying more attention to the evolution of the Honda engine while keeping in the fridge a great driver like the Australian," he said.
Ferrari may not be the Honey badger's best option however, as Globo's Livio Oricchio points out.
"Sergio Marchionne knows that hiring Ricciardo would imply a change in the driver hierarchy at Ferrari," he said.
Mercedes, which is still in talks with Lewis Hamilton over a new deal with the Silver Arrows team, is likely playing its cards close to its chest, and isn't giving anything away about how it views the future.
"Niki Lauda may come back, so we can have a third option," Wolff joked to Finland's Turun Sanomat.
"No, Ricciardo is one of the good drivers, as we saw again," he added.
As the rumor mill continues to spin and the silly season kicks in, Red Bull's Marko has addressed a strong warning to Wolff.
"Herr Wolff already fell on his face with Max Verstappen, and he'll fall on his face again with Daniel Ricciardo," he said.
We wouldn't be so sure about that Helmut...
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