Daniel Ricciardo teases 'Hollywood' F1 drama amid talk of replacing Sergio Perez

Daniel Ricciardo reminded reporters that "crazy things happen" in Formula 1, amid growing speculation that he could replace Sergio Perez.

Rumours began circulating the Silverstone paddock on Friday that the Mexican's poor form may see him replaced by Ricciardo if he cannot improve. In light of that, he really needed a strong qualifying session for the British Grand Prix.

But Perez could only secure 19th on the grid as he lost control of his Red Bull in Q1. On slick tyres, he approached Copse Corner which was still damp in places and span, beaching his car in the gravel and ending his session prematurely.

Team principal Christian Horner could only shake his head on the pit wall as he watched replays of the incident. And it will do nothing to quell the ever-growing speculation over his future, despite having only signed a contract extension a few weeks ago.

Ricciardo qualified 15th in the RB sister team car and, naturally, faced questions about the situation as he spoke to reporters in the media pen. He said: "I would never make any predictions in this sport. I feel like every year that this sport goes on, the more it gets.

"I know it goes in the trend of the sport is getting bigger. It's becoming more Hollywood, so to speak, in terms of the profile the sport has and also the narrative that runs with the sport now and certainly more Hollywood in terms of it's so unpredictable.

"So do I have any proof that I'll be anywhere else? I do not. Crazy things happen but I am certainly not in a place to say that or think that or predict that so try and keep doing my thing. Obviously, today wasn't the case. But again, I know, not to completely just point the finger, but I felt like there wasn't much more I could do with the situation we put ourselves in."

Fifteenth on the grid was clearly not good enough as far as Ricciardo was concerned. But there were mitigating factors, such as the fact he was on used tyres while most others had new sets and, as he pointed out, traffic also didn't work out in his favour.

The Aussie added: "I was questioning a lot of the choices we were making and the run plan and the timings and at the end, we would trip over everyone in the last chicane, trying to open up and making enemies.

"Kind of breaking that gentleman's agreement by overtaking and trying to get my lap before the light goes out. But then I started the lap close to Zhou Guanyu and it's just we never had a chance."