With Mercedes seats taken in 2019 and Ferrari likely to stick to their current driver line-up, Daniel Ricciardo is certain to extend his deal with Red Bull until the end of 2020, the two parties set to announce a deal before the end of August.
Asked how negotiations are progressing, the Australian replied, “Yeah it’s alright, it’s all good. It’ll definitely be done by Spa so whether it gets announced over the break or at Spa, but it’s just a little bit of fine-tuning. It’s all good. You will hear something soon I’m sure.”
The fine-tuning is likely to revolve around money. Ricciardo's teammate Max Verstappen inked a deal last October said to be worth $20-million per year. Currently the Aussie is on about a third of that and needless to say he wants parity with the 20-year-old he shares a garage with on most weekends.
"There should be a decision by the summer break at the latest. We do not want to wait forever. We have other good options. Our priority is to continue working with Daniel. If that does not work, we'll pull the other options," Red Bull team chief Christian Horner told Auto Motor und Sport.
Options should maybe read option as waiting on the Ricciardo call is Carlos Sainz who is currently loaned to Renault, his future dependent on what transpires with the second seat at Red Bull.
At one point Ricciardo was linked to Mercedes and Ferrari, but the Silver Arrows have opted to stick with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas for the next two years.
The Reds are currently in a state of flux. In the aftermath of Sergio Marchionne's untimely death, a new top management team headed by 42-year-old Agnelli heir John Elkann as chairman and Louis Camilleri as CEO.
From Italy, predictions are that the new leadership strengthens Maurizio Arrivabene's control over the team as he and Camilleri were colleagues at Phillip Morris (Marlboro) for decades.
This, in turn, should augur well for Raikkonen who is highly regarded and appreciated by both men almost confirming that the Finn will be in the top flight for at least another season with Ferrari. Hence another big team door closed for Ricciardo.
This report has been superceded by the announcement:
https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/08/03/ricciardo-joins-renault-f1-team-on-two-year-deal-reuters/
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