Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo says his contract for next year is “all good”, as the uncertainty over his future in Formula 1 draws towards a close.
Ricciardo has been affiliated with Red Bull for a decade and stepped up to the senior team in 2014, following spells with the defunct HRT squad and junior team Toro Rosso.
Ricciardo has emerged as one of Formula 1’s leading drivers during his five years with Red Bull but has been unable to mount a title challenge amid the team’s inferiority to Mercedes and Ferrari.
The Australian’s five-year Red Bull deal expires at the end of the current campaign but his options elsewhere appear limited.
Mercedes has re-signed Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas for 2019, while Ferrari is set to choose between either Kimi Raikkonen or Charles Leclerc to partner Sebastian Vettel.
McLaren and Renault were mooted as potential destinations for Ricciardo but neither are in a position to supply the 29-year-old with the race-winning machinery that he craves.
When asked whether he had a contract in his pocket heading into the summer break he 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.”
It would give Red Bull an unchanged driver line-up heading into its new partnership with Honda, having opted to split from its 12-year relationship with Renault to join Toro Rosso in being powered by the Japanese marque.
Max Verstappen last year pledged his future to Red Bull through 2020.
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