Red Bull Waiting Game is Risky: Ricciardo

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo is fully aware of the Red Bull waiting game. He realises that as he assesses his post-2018 options, timing is everything. The Australian is in no hurry to put pen to paper on a new deal with Red Bull. He is biding his time so that he could be in a prime position for a World Championship push. But the 28-year old knows that if his performance does not improve in 2018, he could be in a weak position.

The Australian said, “Yeah, I’m aware as well that there’s always a risk. The longer you leave it, then if you’re not performing, you’re looking less and less desirable race by race. But that’s where I’ve obviously got confidence in my approach and what I’m going to do and I’ve got confidence that I will be performing. So each year does tick by, but as far as my performance side goes, I’m not worried. It’s more that I want to be world champion before I’ve got grey hair.”

Amid the whole Red Bull waiting game, Ricciardo is confident that his relationship with Verstappen won’t go south during the 2018 title fight. Ricciardo said: “I hope so, keep him on my birthday list. So we’ll see. We said at the start of 2017 it would be a good problem to have. If we’re both fighting at the front and having some battles. If it’s ultimately deciding a world title we would happily run with that challenge. So, yeah, we’ll see.”

2017 was a tough year for the Austrian team as they suffered a number of reliability issues. In most of the races, at least one car had retired due to mechanical issues. Out of 20 races, Red Bull have seen both cars reach the chequered flag 5 times.