Daniel Ricciardo remains confident Red Bull will secure an engine deal for 2016, but in the event they don’t, the Australian says he’ll begin looking elsewhere for a race seat.
The Milton Keynes based team is still negotiating with Ferrari, though the Italian supplier is sticking to its offer of 2015-spec engines, something Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has dismissed.
On Thursday Mateschitz set a deadline of the end of the current month to find a supply, otherwise he will pull both Red Bull and Toro Rosso out of the sport.
That deadline was welcomed by Ricciardo who says it gives him and the team a timeframe to prepare for other possibilities if necessary.
“I haven’t thought about the negative potential outcome of it yet, I’m still pretty positive,” the 26-year-old is quoted as saying.
“It’s good that Dietrich has set a bit of a deadline because we have got to know what we are doing and if we are going with ‘X’ engine then we have got to start designing the car and all the rest of it.
“We can’t wait until Christmas, so we will see in a few more weeks if we get a decision or an outcome. I’m still positive as long as we have still got time on our side.”
Ricciardo reckons things will eventually come good for the team, but admitted he will be keeping his ears and eyes open for other opportunities.
“It’s not the end of October yet, so I’ll remain positive and if we get to the end of October and nothing has been sorted then I’ll for sure start having my eyes and ears a little bit more open about what else is going on.
“I think we will get something that is decent enough to convince us to stay in the sport and that means giving us a chance to win.”
