Daniel Ricciardo admits he needs to “see signs” of progress from Renault before committing long-term to the team.
The Australian is already signed to the French manufacturer until the end of 2020 and has recently stated that he will see out that deal despite a link to Ferrari.
However, while 2021 is the year that aspiring midfield teams like Renault are looking to, to challenge the top three, the former Red Bull driver isn’t ready to think about being there.
“For now the answer is no but not out of distrust of Renault,” he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera
“I want to wait for the second part of this season. I expect to see signs: I would like the team fighting with McLaren for fourth place in the constructors.”
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So far, his stay at Renault has been mixed with a poor start dogged by errors and poor reliability. A strong performance in Canada, qualifying P4 and finishing P6 raised hopes, but the pace dropped again in Austria as both cars finished outside the top 10.
Before Ricciardo even made his surprise move from Red Bull though, there was speculation linking him to Ferrari for 2019.
Reasons for why the interest didn’t result in anything would range from financial demands to Sebastian Vettel blocking the signing of his ex-teammate.
On the latter one though, the 30-year-old doesn’t believe there’s much truth.
“I don’t have an answer to this question,” he said. “But if I put it to myself, I say that it is not possible: I refuse to think that a team of this kind should be influenced by a driver.”