Daniel Ricciardo decision to switch from Red Bull, if he chooses to at the end of this season, will not be less than a surprise to Red Bull team as its boss Christian Horner put it.
His contract with Red Bull will come to a conclusion at the end of this season. He will be exploring his options to excel his career with possible seats availability at Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and McLaren. He has already been engaged by McLaren and Renault.
Horner said: “It would be a fairly bold decision to step out of a car that he has won two grands prix in this year as a championship contender.
“I would be surprised if he left. It is good fit between him and Red Bull.”
McLaren has engaged Ricciardo to chart-out their understanding in case Fernando Alonso, McLaren lead driver, decided to conclude his F1 career after this season.
Alonos, who is two-time champion, will be deciding whether to stay at F1 or to move out for US-based Indycar series.
He has been trying to ace triple crown and will be prioritizing it. If he chooses to stay at F1 with McLaren, he will also be competing at Indianapolis 500 which he had failed to win so far.
Alonso in partnership with Toyota has won this year’s Le Man 24 Hours and has been able to finish first at Monaco.
Ricciardo Ponders
This season, Red Bull is far ahead of McLaren and Renault in pace but Ricciardo is not much concerned over it. He said, “I’m not going to say ‘no, it doesn’t interest me at all’.”
Ricciardo will be evaluating his decision whether to switch teams or not. He was inspired by the Hamilton’s decision to switch from McLaren to Mercedes in 2012, which turned out to be the most successful career path.
Ricciardo said: “Lewis pulled the trigger pretty well. Whether he fluked it – he says that he really knew it was going to happen, I don’t know.
“I know that, if you’re saying, those two teams, they’re 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 probably top of my list right now, but I wouldn’t dismiss it, also. Obviously McLaren and Renault aren’t there [out front] today, but maybe they will be there in a year or three years’ time.”
