Daniel Ricciardo has made it quite clear that he is waiting to see how the land lies during testing, ahead of the 2018 season, before making a decision on his next career move, while Red Bull are keen to hang on to the Australian they do admit that they have attractive options should the Australian decide to go elsewhere.
Team principal Christian Horner told Racer, “I think Daniel knows what our strengths are and hopefully we’ll be in a reasonable position.”
But admits, “I think he’s at a stage in his career where he’s wanting to evaluate all of his options, which you can understand. The problem is we won’t wait around forever and we’ve got some very good options available to us, but our priority is to try and ensure we find a solution with Daniel.”
Horner also understands the reasoning behind Ricciardo’s reluctance to put pen to paper in haste, “I get the impression he’ll want to see relative engine performances next year. He’s had four years of frustration on that side of things, so I can understand him wanting to see how things are panning out.”
Red Bull have signed Max Verstappen until the end of 2020. They also have Carlos Sainz on standby at Renault should they need him in the future, as well as Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley with Toro Rosso.
Big Question: Is Daniel the best driver option for Red Bull?