Back in 2014-2016 they couldn't care less about this, they were under no threat from other teams, they could have them fight, they won't do it again, or they would, they could sign either Ocon, Ricciardo or Alonso, they didn't. What does it tell us?
Ocon wasn’t ready yet for a top drive and I’m not sure how we would have handled it. Sure it looks like the wrong choice now, but on September it seemed like he had a good seat at FI.
Ricciardo was my bet, but he’s an unknown and being pretty solidly beaten by his far more unfortunate (reliability wise) team mate. I’d put him and Bottas on a similar level pace wise, Riccy is just balls to the walls with the moves.
Alonso was never going to happen. Pipe dream, Vettel was a more likely signing...
All in all, Bottas was the best option for next year and this when they did.
Ricciardo was the closest option, but he’s slower than Max (who you’d probably say is slower than Lewis) and has been beaten by him when both cars have worked properly... so it would be a bit of a sideways move...