Steiner open to return Ricciardo: 'But it's a bit early'

Haas and Alpine team bosses do see Daniel Ricciardo returning in the future. At the press conference ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Guenther Steiner and Otmar Szafnauer addressed the Australian's situation.

"“It's a little bit early to speak about a drivers change already for next year," Steiner said. "So let's see how we are doing with these drivers and for sure at some point maybe I speak with him but I cannot promise anything because if our two guys do a good job I think I know where I stand with it. But for sure Danny is, everybody is going to get to speak with Danny after the year off. Maybe he knows again what he wants to do and he will be interesting for everybody in Formula One. I've got a new driver this year who has done only two races so I need to give him a little bit of a chance."

In the past, Ricciardo drove for Alpine when they were still called Renault. Szafnauer was not the team boss then, but he does reveal that Ricciardo was on the team's radar last year when they needed to find a replacement for Fernando Alonso.

"We had discussions with Daniel, ended up with Pierre when he became available and he signed with Red Bull now but I think like Steiner does, he's a fantastic racing driver, he's still young and I wouldn't be surprised if he's back racing in the future," Szafaneur said.