Who will replace Ricciardo at Red Bull?

The Australian's departure frees up one of the most coveted cockpits in motorsport, a seat with a Big Three team alongside Max Verstappen.

If anything can be deduced from Ricciardo's surprise move is that Red Bull are hedging all their bets on their young Dutch star and thus whoever arrives to fill the garage space next to him will be playing second fiddle - Verstappen is now the boss there.

The latest development means Carlos Sainz is out of a drive and thus the loan to Renault will terminate at the end of this season. With this in mind, one would expect that the Spaniard is now a certainty for the Red Bull drive but some, close to the organisation, have suggested that this will not be the case.

Sainz comes with an entourage that includes his father, rally legend Carlos Sainz of the senior variety, and a staunch media armada that lobby for the Spaniard at every opportunity. Word is that this does not sit well with team chief Christian Horner and influential consultant Helmut Marko.

But one could argue that the pair did a good job to marginalise Jos Verstappen and will be able to do the same with Sainz Snr.

Indeed this is a possibility, but then there is the issue of the fractious relationship between Verstappen and Sainz when they were teammates at Toro Rosso. Marko is against reuniting the two.

Sainz will not entertain a return to Toro Rosso and is adamant that for him it is either Red Bull or another team altogether, “My number one target is to be with Red Bull next year and start fighting for podiums, wins, whatever they are fighting for next year. I’m going to keep pushing for this.”

“If that doesn’t happen obviously a fourth year in Toro Rosso is unlikely and I’m not going to close the door to any opportunity,” added the 23-year-old man from Madrid whois being linked with a move to McLaren if he is deemed a surplus to requirements at the energy drinks outfit.

Sainz's real competition from within the Red Bull ranks is Pierre Gasly who has given a good account of himself in his first full season in the top-flight. He would be a suitable number two to Verstappen.

At this point in time, the smart money will be on Gasly to partner Verstappen next year, however Ricciardo-to-Renault proved that where 'the smart money' goes is not always a fair dinkum indication of what will really happen.

Horner summed up the situation for his team, “We will now continue to evaluate the numerous options available to us before deciding on which driver partners Max Verstappen for the 2019 season."

"In the meantime, there are still nine races left in 2018 and we are fully focused on maximising every opportunity for Max and Daniel for the remainder of the season.”

Away from Red Bull, Ricciardo's signing ends any hope that Esteban Ocon had of driving for Renault nest year, thus the Mercedes backed driver is likely to remain with Force India should it survive and in whatever guise it takes.

The Renault door also slammed shut in Sergio Perez's face, by all accounts he was a near the top of the French team's shopping list but Cyril Abiteboul's coup to bring in a driver with winning pedigree ended that option for the Mexican

Perez will now look to secure his future with whoever takes over at Force India or most likely he will get a seat alongside Kevin Magnussen at Haas.

The Renault-Ricciardo announcement has triggered another flurry of Silly Season speculation. Whatever transpires there are sure to be some more big movements and major changes in driver line-ups for 2019.