Ricciardo remaining coy over future
Aussie wants to decide between staying at Red Bull or joining other team before summer break
>> LE CASTELLET: Daniel Ricciardo was coy on Thursday about widespread reports that he is attracting interest from McLaren and Ferrari as well as his current Red Bull outfit.
The Australian told reporters he was aware of the stories linking him to other teams, but did not confirm or deny any of the quoted figures attributed to key source Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko.
Red Bull this week confirmed they were switching from Renault to Honda as engine suppliers from next year and team chief Christian Horner has made it clear he hopes to persuade Ricciardo to stay.
“Everyone’s talking about Mercedes and Ferrari as potential places for me to go, but I’m aware there’s obviously going to be interest from other teams and I guess McLaren is probably one of them,” he added.
“It probably depends as well on what Fernando [Alonso] does, if he stays or if he goes. If he does go, then I guess they will probably want a more experienced driver to come in. I guess we’ll see.”
Ricciardo has won two races this year and was dominant in his triumph at the Monaco Grand Prix last month where he proved he had come of age as a race-winner.
Speaking at Le Castellet, ahead of this weekend’s French Grand Prix, he was his usual open and engaging self, but gave little away — and made it clear that much may depend on the future of two-time champion Alonso who last weekend won the Le Mans 24-Hours race.
“I haven’t been pushed yet,” he said. “But I would say there will be a bit of movement probably in the next week. Ideally for them, they’d want something sooner rather than later. Probably in the next two weeks would be ideal.
“But, for me, personally, I think it would be nice to go on the summer [European] break knowing what I’m doing so then I can actually enjoy it.
“If I’m on the phone for two weeks of the August break, trying to still figure out my future, it probably won’t be that good.”
Ricciardo, 28, will be a free agent at the end of this season when his current Red Bull contract expires.
The team have Dutch tyro, Max Verstappen, 20, tied to a long-term deal and want to retain the moreexperienced Ricciardo as they build for a new era with Honda.
When it was suggested that, according to German news reports, Marko had said McLaren had offered US$20 million, Ricciardo laughed and said it was “not enough”.
He said he had not personally been in contact with any other teams, but conceded that his management may have been on his behalf. “I don’t know,” he said. “People talk, people have coffees and stuff. And Red Bulls!”
Meanwhile, Verstappen said Red Bull’s decision to switch from Renault to Honda engines for at least the next two seasons looks a positive step for the Formula One team.
The 20-year-old race winner, who has a contract for the duration of the deal, also told reporters at the French Grand Prix that the announcement came as no surprise.
Verstappen added that he had visited Honda’s engine factory in Japan last year already and had been impressed with what he saw.
“Looking at the performance they showed this year, the improvements they made and especially in Canada again, it looked all very positive,” he said. “They keep developing, they keep putting people in the right places.”
The youngest race winner in F1 history, with three career victories so far, Verstappen is seen as a future champion but the Honda engine has under-performed since the Japanese manufacturer returned with McLaren in 2015.