Ricciardo after two-year F1 deal, sets Red Bull wins target

Daniel Ricciardo says the next Formula 1 contract he hopes to sign will be a two-year deal so he can assess the championship pecking order ahead of the expected 2021 rules shake-up.

Fresh off the back of winning the Chinese Grand Prix, Ricciardo has repeated his focus on ensuring his next F1 team deal is with a squad capable of battling for world titles having grown frustrated at Red Bull’s situation stuck behind Mercedes and Ferrari in recent seasons.

Ricciardo’s current Red Bull agreement expires at the end of the current F1 campaign and while he is after a package which can enable him to fight for world championships he is wary of the planned 2021 changes which could mix up the pecking order.

“I don’t want to sign anything too long because I don’t know where the sport’s going,” Ricciardo told The Times newspaper. “I feel like life is happening pretty fast.

“Each year something might change so I don’t want to tie myself down for four more years and then I’m like, ‘I don’t want to do this any more’.

“Ideally I’d sign a two-year contract. I think two years I can definitely be comfortable with and then see it from there. That third year will be the rule change so I will probably wait and see what happens then.”

Ricciardo looks set be play a key role in the F1 driver market depending on where his future heads having been linked to potential moves to both Ferrari and Mercedes. The Australian driver confirmed to The Times neither of Red Bull’s front-running rivals have contacted him about his future as he weighs up his options for next year.

“I kind of feel like if they want me to race for them they should contact me, but they haven’t,” he said. “If we win this year then I’m staying with Red Bull. It’s pretty simple. It’s really just about performance at the moment.”

Currently Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari and Max Verstappen at Red Bull respectively are the only two drivers with confirmed spots on the 2019 F1 grid after recently signing new deals.

Mercedes is set to confirm a fresh terms with reigning F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, which is reported to be a three-year deal with £120million, while the futures of Finnish pair Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen and Mercedes and Ferrari respectively remain uncertain.