Daniel Ricciardo has revealed he has held talks with Ferrari in the past, hinting that conversations took place as early as 2018, the same year he announced he was joining Renault the following season. Ricciardo, who is half Italian, was linked to the Ferrari seat prior to the beginning of the 2020 season until he confirmed he signed a multi-year agreement with McLaren for his current F1 campaign. "I've never sat at the table with them [Ferrari] with a piece of paper in front of me, not that," Ricciardo told Motorsport.com. "There were just a few conversations. "However, we never got to the point where we were going to sign anything, contracts and stuff. It never got that far. So we certainly had conversations but it never got to a second step." Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of 2018 for Renault and he has hinted that Ferrari was an option during the time, due to Sebastian Vettel's success in that period when he was regularly winning races. "In my head, it was one of the options, especially when the team was fighting for the championship," said Ricciardo. "Also in the years with Seb. The team was performing well. "Ferrari and Mercedes were the only teams outside Red Bull for quite some time that you really wanted to go to. I've tried not to be too guided by the emotion with my roots and there are pictures of me as a kid where I wear a Ferrari shirt that my dad bought me. "So yes, they're a great team and I respect them enormously. My dream was to make F1, not to drive for Ferrari. If it had worked, it would have been brilliant. If not, I'm still very happy and happy with where I've come from."
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