Daniel Ricciardo admits there is some appeal to joining McLaren or Renault in the future, but feels it is not time yet to make a decision on his future should he leave Red Bull.
Ricciardo is a key figure in this year's driver market, with Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas expected to stay on, while Ferrari is evaluating the identity of Sebastian Vettel's future team-mate, the seat currently held by Kimi Raikkonen.
With Red Bull switching to Honda power units and an unconfirmed offer coming from McLaren, there is fresh speculation on how the Monaco race winner will handle his next move in Formula 1.
When asked about the appeal of potential offers elsewhere, Ricciardo said: "There is part of it which is, I’m not going to say it doesn’t interest me at all. Probably more because what Lewis was able to do with Mercedes.
"If you’re saying those two teams, they are not quite in that position yet. But could they be? Maybe. The thought of that, it has some appeal. I wouldn’t say it’s top of my list now. But I wouldn’t dismiss it also. I’ve said with Red Bull, I’m also careful not to, just from a personal point of view, burn and bridges because you never know where the sport will take you.
"If I do move on from Red Bull, I never want to criticise them. I’ve had it pretty good there and it’s been really fun. McLaren and Renault aren’t there today but maybe they will be there in a year or three years time. You never know.
"Lewis pulled the trigger pretty well. Whether he fluked it, he said it was going to happen, I don’t know! Whether he fluked it or not, he did well for himself with that move. Whether it’s just a fantasy for everyone else, at least there is some proof something like that can happen again."
Aged 28, Ricciardo is heading towards the peak of his career and his next contract could have implications on his world title hopes for the future. When asked if it will be the most difficult decision of his career, he said: "Probably the second most difficult.
"The most difficult was leaving Australia and going to Europe when I still didn’t really know what my talent was. I didn’t really believe then I was good enough. That was a trickier decision. This will be the second. It’s big enough!"
