Daniel Ricciardo says that Red Bull needs to be in a race-winning position in a Formula 1 on a regular basis to convince him to commit his future to the team.
Ricciardo joined Red Bull at the start of Formula 1’s hybrid era in 2014, with the team having taken four double titles on the bounce, but slipped back amid Mercedes’ dominance.
Red Bull has not been able to challenge for the title during Ricciardo’s time at the operation, with all six of his wins coming in opportunistic situations.
The most recent of those came in China last weekend, when Ricciardo used softer and fresher tyres to good effect, carving his way from sixth to first with a sequence of spectacular passes.
Ricciardo is out of contract at the end of year with Mercedes and Ferrari both regarded as potential destinations should either team wish to replaces its current drivers.
Appearing on Australia's Channel 10 network, Ricciardo joked that he “just wants to go to the moon” when he was asked about his potential 2019 destination, having “been asked so many contract questions!”
When pushed for a serious answer, Ricciardo replied: “I definitely want to be with the best car.
“I think the weekend proved that if I’ve got the opportunity to win I can pull it off, and [I can cope with] all that pressure and that intensity.
“If we can win a few more now with Red Bull then that looks very attractive but if not there’s probably other options.
“I said it from that start that the win helps but obviously if we were finishing sixth every race this year then that’s not the most attractive option to me.”
Ricciardo’s win lifted him to within 17 points of title leader Sebastian Vettel but reckons its “too early” to determine whether Red Bull has the pace to challenge for the championship.
Red Bull was unable to fully exploit its race pace in Australia – with both drivers stuck behind opponents – while neither Ricciardo nor Max Verstappen made it beyond the early laps in Bahrain.
“I think it’s still too early to say because, look, we obviously won at the weekend but we need to win regularly to kind of show that,” Ricciardo said.
“If we come out and win again in two weeks in Baku then I’ll probably say yes.”
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