Ricciardo Baffled by Poor Ferrari Interest

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo is starting to “lean towards’ staying put at his current team. He is aware that his options are limited since Ferrari haven’t show the level of interest that he believed they would.

Ricciardo had been linked to Ferrari for several months, likely partnering with Sebastian Vettel. However, the move never materialised for the Australian.

According to reports, it was a financial decision that had the last word. Ferrari were unwilling to pay Ricciardo’s salary on top of Vettel’s.

The Aussie has also been linked to Mercedes, but insists that he will most likely re-sign with Red Bull.

“I actually thought there would be more interest than there has been from them (Ferrari),” Ricciardo said. “But maybe something has happened or whatever, I don’t know.

“It’s probably safe to say that my options are pretty limited.

“I don’t think there will be much movement at the top. Mercedes won’t change their drivers and Ferrari, who knows with them?

“They have Kimi (Raikkonen), and now there’s talk about (Charles) Leclerc, but I don’t know what they’ll do.

“I’m obviously leaning toward staying here — I expect to have something signed, sealed and delivered by the summer break. It’s definitely getting closer.”

Even Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner echoed Ricciardo’s confidence in terms of getting a deal done.

“We’ve now got to the point where there is a desire from both sides to continue the relationship,” Horner said.

“So it’s just a matter of now really going through the detail and coming to a conclusion which will certainly be done prior to the summer break.”

Ricciardo confessed that he wasn’t “craving” a departure from the energy drink team. Instead, he was just keeping an open mind about the possibilities on offer for him in the near future.