Former F1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle has gone out on a limb and suggested that Daniel Ricciardo could replace an "unhappy" Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for 2019.
Formula 1's game of musical chairs is just getting started with several seats potentially up for grabs for next year.
The uncertainty surrounding Hamilton's future with Mercedes - despite Toto Wolff's claims that a new deal between the four-time world champion and the German squad is "just around the corner" -has only added more water to the rumor mill.
While a plum drive at Mercedes has always been among the pundits envisaged opportunities for Ricciardo, Brundle suggests the man the Aussie could replace at the Silver Arrows team may not be the one everyone expects.
"It's a tough call for Ricciardo, assuming the two seats are actually available to him," Brundle told Sky Sports, referring to potential open doors at Mercedes and Ferrari.
"If Mercedes is an opportunity, where would he sit within the all-powerful sphere of Lewis Hamilton?
"Let me throw this outrageous curveball. Hamilton doesn't seem particularly happy at the moment, and I can imagine he will be super expensive to hire for his next Merc contract too.
"If that isn't already signed, would Mercedes go for the four-and-a-half-year younger Ricciardo instead? Sponsorship agreements might complicate that."
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The alternative prime option for the Honey Badger would involve a move to Maranello, where Kimi Raikkonen is expected to call it a day at the end of 2018.
"If Kimi feels unloved and unlucky at Ferrari at the moment I wouldn't blame him at all [in retiring],” he added.
"Might Red Bull eventually be a more comfortable and faster home to remain at than Mercedes or Ferrari, or have they invested their future primarily into Verstappen?"
That's the one hundred million dollar question Marty!
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