Team boss Christian Horner says he feels pretty sure Daniel Ricciardo wants to stay with Red Bull in 2019, as speculation over the Australian’s future intensifies.
His comments came in an interesting principal’s press conference on Friday at Paul Ricard with McLaren’s Eric Boullier and Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul present on a week when both teams had some kind of link to Red Bull.
Renault’s came after the Milton Keynes outfit announced their decision to end the 12-year engine partnership with the French manufacturer and switch to Honda power for next season.
Meanwhile, McLaren was identified by Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko as having targeted Ricciardo for a seat in 2019, claiming the British team had offered $20m a year to try and lure him over.
“I’d like to think we are in good shape [to keep him],” Horner told Sky Sports F1 on Friday.
“The key for me is: does Daniel want to be in the team next year? Take everything [else] away from that and does he want to be in the team?
“I get the impression very much that he does what to be there. He sees the progress, sees the potential.
“So hopefully now that the other bits and pieces are sorted, the engine is sorted, it should be relatively straightforward to finalise.”
As for the attractiveness of switching to a team currently among the top three, something Ricciardo didn’t rule out, the Red Bull boss doubts the chances of that are too high.
“It would be a fairly bold decision to step out of a car he’s won two Grands Prix in this year and is a championship contender,” he claimed.
“Let’s not forget he’s been in a car that the last couple of Grands Prix [Monaco and Canada] has been lapping the cars to our left [McLaren & Renault].
“I would be surprised if he was to leave the team because it’s a good fit between himself and Red Bull but it’s Formula 1.”