Chinese GP Win not Enough for Red Bull Contract

Daniel Ricciardo has acknowledged that his Chinese GP win won’t be enough to warrant a new deal with Red Bull.

The Australian is one of several drivers who are out of contract at the end of 2018. Fortunately for him, there are potential openings at Mercedes and Ferrari or there’s the option of renewing with Red Bull.

He said: “I want to be with the best car; I think the weekend proved if I got the opportunity I can pull it off.

“If we can win a few more now with Red Bull, that looks very attractive. If not, there’s probably other options.”

Since his promotion to Red bull from Toro Rosso, Ricciardo has won six races. However, the team have not been in a championship-winning position since then.

Much of the blame can be levelled at engine suppliers, Renault with whom Red Bull have endured a fractious relationship. This was stemmed at the French company’s inability to match the power-units of Mercedes and Ferrari in terms of speed.

He wasn’t quite sure if Red Bull were serious title contenders just yet, but suggested that Baku may provide some answers.

Although Ricciardo triumphed at the street circuit last year, Red Bull are likely to struggle, partly due to the long main straight.

Coming back to the subject of driver contracts, both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are out of contract at the end of the season. In the Ferrari camp, Sebastian Vettel is signed up until 2020 but Kimi Raikkonen’s deal expires this year.

Mercedes and Hamilton both insist that a new contract is impending. Bottas is another story, team boss Toto Wolff says Bottas’ performance in the first half of the season will determine his eligibility.

So far, Bottas’ 2018 track record looks good especially in Bahrain and China. But, he struggled in Australia, crashing in qualifying and finishing eighth.

If Ricciardo is aiming for a Mercedes seat, he will face stiff competition from Force India’s Esteban Ocon, who is a Mercedes-contracted driver.

Assuming Raikkonen does not stick around next year, Ferrari’s position on a team-mate for Vettel is unclear. They have been grooming rookie Charles Leclerc as a future partner for Vettel. But the Monegasque driver is still a little raw and prone to mistakes particularly in the first three races of his F1 career this season for Sauber.

Vettel was enthusiastic about partnering Ricciardo again, despite the the Aussie outperforming him when they were teammates at Red Bull.

Despite the fact that he is hot property in the driver market, Ricciardo feels that his Chinese GP win was not convincing enough.