Ricciardo will assess “who has the best car” before deciding F1 future

Daniel Ricciardo says he’ll wait to see which Formula 1 team has the best car for 2019 before deciding on his future in the sport.

The Australian driver is considered to be one of the hottest F1 properties with his current Red Bull contract expiring at the end of the 2018 season and Ricciardo is eager to secure a title-contending package from his next contract. Ricciardo has endured a number of near-misses with Red Bull having shown flashes of front-running pace despite being dominated by Mercedes in the V6 hybrid era.

With Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen signed up on long-term deals at Ferrari and Red Bull respectively, Ricciardo is happy to wait on signs of early development from the top three teams in 2018 before deciding his future.

“I highly, highly doubt I will be signing any dotted lines over the next month,” Ricciardo said. “Unless I get a ridiculous offer, but probably not even. Because right now it is not about the offer it is about who is going to have the best car in 2019. So it is worth me just seeing how the start of the year goes. I don’t want to be too clever and think I will have every option possible, but I have enough time on my side to still sit it out a little bit.

“Talking to Red Bull is easy because I know them already. The other two, if they are interested they will need to make the approach. I don’t want to come across as desperate. I know is that there is not really any merit in me doing it now. I don’t think I will leave it late next year, for sure I’d want to know something earlier but I don’t need to do it in the winter from what I understand.”

Since graduating from Toro Rosso to the Red Bull squad in 2014, Ricciardo has notched up five career wins and one pole position with the career high of third place in the F1 drivers’ world championship in 2014 and 2016.