Max Verstappen believes Daniel Ricciardo is likely to stay at Red Bull’s Formula 1 team next season.
Speculation over Ricciardo’s future has increased since Red Bull confirmed last week it will use Honda power units in the 2019 F1 season.
Verstappen, who extended his contract with Red Bull last year, told media including RaceFans in Austria “the chances are very big for him to stay.“He is already here so why wouldn’t he stay?”
Verstappen described Ricciardo as “a great team mate to have.”
“We have a lot of fun together but also once we are in the car we are pushing each other to a higher level. I enjoy working with him.
“He is one of the best team mates to have in the paddock in terms of relationship, but also one of the toughest ones. But I like competition anyway so it is perfect to have him as a team mate.”
Honda is making good progress with its power unit for next year, Verstappen added.
“I think they are in a good way, they are improving a lot. Of course at the moment I’m not really thinking because I’m still focusing on this season, doing the best possible job.
“I trust the team and Honda, they keep working hard for next year to deliver us a really good package.”
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2018 F1 season
- McLaren staff told us we were “totally crazy” to take Honda engines in 2018 – Tost
- ‘It doesn’t matter if we start last’: How Red Bull’s junior team aided Honda’s leap forward
- Honda’s jet division helped F1 engineers solve power unit problem
- McLaren Racing losses rise after Honda split
- Ricciardo: Baku “s***show” was Red Bull’s fault
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
28th June 2018, 18:30
Hamilton and Bottas’ current contracts expire at the end of this season. We don’t know what Hamilton’s future is, but he and Mercedes are a bit coy about it. Despite the rumours Mercedes aren’t interested in Ricciardo, I think the main reason why they’ve kept Bottas on a one season contract is because they had wanted to have the option of replacing him with Ricciardo.
Robbie (@robbie)
28th June 2018, 21:39
Personally I haven’t doubted that LH will be re-signing at Merc since last year when reminders started coming out in articles and conversations about his contract being up this year. I think Merc and LH have known since last year that he’d be staying on.
Paul
28th June 2018, 18:34
If LEC wasn’t doing such a stellar job then I think RIC’s Ferrari contract would have been signed, sealed and delivered by now.
Who knows what will happen next, guess the music will probably stop at Silverstone and then seats will start to be filled. I just pity whoever ends up in McLaren (or Williams)
Gabriel (@rethla)
28th June 2018, 18:38
Noone deserving pity will end up in Williams.
Neil (@neilosjames)
28th June 2018, 23:53
I hope they stay together. Definitely the closest-matched pairing at the sharp end… I just pray Honda doesn’t stuff them up.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
29th June 2018, 0:22
So after 2 seasons of slurs from both fans and journalists that ‘no top team wants Alonso’ it seems no top team wants Riccairdo either. He’d be cheaper than Hamilton and with the car advantage they have, would surely do as well.
I’m sticking with my original theory that neither Mercedes or Ferrari can handle two top drivers. Alonso would have been there if they relished it as much as Ron Dennis did.
Robbie (@robbie)
29th June 2018, 0:42
Although of course if Merc had their way, Nico would still be beside LH as per his last contract extension that would have seen him still in the rivalry through this year. They not only handled two top drivers, they locked out the front row most of the time too. I have not given up on Mercedes doing something like this again at some point.
Garns (@)
29th June 2018, 3:36
If the other doors aren’t opening Dan might be best put pen to paper, Red Bull can announce it at their home race and they can move on. There still may be a spot at Ferrari and they want Leclerc to do more time in a team a bit higher up the grid.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
29th June 2018, 11:12
I think that on the face of it, this season has shown that Bottas is probably more or less at the level of Ricciardo, but without the desire to upset the applecart: so why take Ricciardo over Bottas (most likely more expensive, too). Leclerc probably has a near-Verstappen talent ceiling, so for Ferrari if they do want to take a chance it makes sense to blood Leclerc over investing in someone Leclerc will someday replace anyway. None of the other teams are good enough to satisfy Ricciardo (unless all he cares about is matching Verstappen’s pay), and with Ricciardo having a good season on paper (one lucky win, one dominant weekend) but still being out-paced by Verstappen more often than not, I’m not entirely sure what his credentials are for thinking he should be a level driver with Lewis or Vettel (oh, here comes someone mentioning 2014). So, this all makes sense.