Daniel Ricciardo was asked directly if he would consider joining Aston Martin after Sebastian Vettel confirmed his retirement from Formula 1.
The German will leave the sport at the end of the season as he looks forward to spending more time with his wife and children. As well as a gaping hole in the paddock, the four-time world champion leaves a vacancy at Aston Martin which will need to be filled.
Team principal Mike Krack admitted last week the team had "no plan B" in place if Vettel chose to leave. Now it is up to him and team owner Lawrence Stroll to form one – not that they are short of options when it comes to potential replacements.
Naturally, Ricciardo was one of the first names linked amid his struggles with McLaren. The Australian has still not found a rhythm 18 months after joining the team, and that has led to speculation that they might part company before the end of his current deal, which expires in late 2023.
But Ricciardo took to social media earlier this month to issue a definitive response to those rumours, and vowed to see out his deal with McLaren. And his tune had not changed when asked directly if he would be interested in the vacancy at Aston Martin.
The question came at Thursday's driver press conference in Budapest, and was asked by Sky Sports commentator David Croft. He was given a very clear response by the Australian, who said: "Did you hear any of my interviews last week Crofty? Nothing against [Aston Martin], but as I said last week my future is clear."
The other drivers in the room also answered the question, most of them taking the chance to express their commitment to their current employers. Esteban Ocon, who raced for the team when they were known as Force India and Racing Point, simply said: "I'm good at Alpine at the moment, but I know the team very well and what they are capable of."
Kevin Magnussen gave the shortest answer of all, and said: "I'm contracted for next year and very happy at Haas." And Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas sparked a big laugh in the room when he referenced his previous one-year deals when at Mercedes : "I never believed I could say this, but I have a contract! So I'm good."
Alexander Albon was the only one of the five to not give a straight answer, perhaps hinting that the British-Thai racer is keen to keep his options open despite his current short-team agreement with Williams. He replied: "Aston Martin are a great team, they're clearly expanding as a team as well. But the focus right now has to be on this year, and we'll leave it as that."
