Daniel Ricciardo has revealed the key factor he is considering before committing to a new contract with Red Bull beyond 2018.
The Australian was considered the highest profile driver that was out of contract at the end of this season and potentially looking for alternatives following a disappointing five years with the Milton Keynes outfit that has seen them close but never close enough to challenging Mercedes and now Ferrari.
However, possible seats at the other top three teams are now seemingly unavailable, as Mercedes continue with Valtteri Bottas alongside Lewis Hamilton and the Scuderia consider Charles Leclerc as a replacement for Kimi Raikkonen.
That means Red Bull is the only viable front-running option left, but even there, there are claims he was wanting assurances of his position in the team alongside Max Verstappen.
“Not that I don’t want that [No.1 status] but I don’t need that, it’s all right,” Ricciardo was quoted by F1i.com.
“Obviously Max is driving well but I genuinely think there have been things every weekend since Monaco which have just been a bit of a disruption or a bit of bad luck.
“Like the front wing and all that with Paul Ricard. Just pisses me off.”
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Instead, the main worry has been on Red Bull’s decision to switch to Honda in 2019, with the 29-year-old keen to ensure it was made for the right reasons.
“I’ve obviously heard the team out more than once and they’ve given me the reasons,” he told Motorsport.com.
“The important thing to understand for me why they’ve done it, it can’t just be purely on emotions. Like, ‘It’s gone to shit with Renault, whatever, and we’re doing it because we want to change’.
“They’ve obviously done their homework and they strongly believe that it is a good thing, not just on an emotional decision.
“They’ve done what they can to try and encourage me to make it happen.”
