DANIEL Ricciardo’s future has been the topic on everyone’s lips and it will continue to be so until he confirms a new deal for 2019.

The Aussie F1 star, who is off contract at the end of the year, is expected to re-sign with Red Bull despite rumours he was going to jump ship and link up with Mercedes or Ferrari.

Cold water was poured on those reports when it was suggested the Silver Arrows were content with their pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, and Ferrari was concerned Ricciardo may not gel with Sebastian Vettel.

That means unless the “Honey Badger” wants to take a gamble with an inferior team, all signs point towards him recommitting to Red Bull — a decision he hopes to make before the European summer break.

So far Red Bull has been unable to deliver Ricciardo what he cherishes most — a world title — and he’s made no secret of his desire to partner with a team capable of giving him the tools to win the drivers’ championship.

Ricciardo shot down reports he was talking exclusively with Ferrari about coming across and in a telling insight into how much the Scuderia cooled on the idea of signing the 29-year-old, he’s spoken candidly about his disappointment in the dwindling interest shown by the Italian team.

Ricciardo also said Mercedes won’t want to alter its driver line-up, adding more weight to the belief he’ll almost certainly extend his stay at Red Bull.

“I actually thought there would be more interest than there has been from them (Ferrari),” Ricciardo told Rob Ladbrook of Motorsport Magazine. “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.”

Ricciardo said he wasn’t “craving” a departure from the energy drink team but was just keeping an open mind about the possibilities on offer.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said earlier in the week he expected Ricciardo to stay, barring the sudden retirement of Hamilton.

“We’ve now got to the point where there is a desire from both sides to continue the relationship,” Horner told reporters at the Red Bull factory ahead of Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

“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 (August) break.”

With Mercedes winning the last four drivers’ and constructors’ championships, and trading the lead with Ferrari this year, Horner recognised the champions could have lured Ricciardo away.

“I think that had Mercedes put a serious offer on the table, or an offer, he would have been potentially interested,” Horner said. “He’s impatient to try and challenge for a world title so I think he would have had his head turned in the event of a Mercedes or a Ferrari offer but I think those two teams look pretty set where they are.”

Horner said Ricciardo suited Red Bull’s brand image and was a popular member of a team set to trade Renault engines for Honda power next year. Asked whether Ricciardo would get equal money to 20-year-old Dutch hotshot Max Verstappen, winner in Austria last weekend, Horner said only that each had their own value.

“Obviously, one of the things he was waiting to understand was where we were going with engines as well. He’s seen and understood the decision making behind where we’ve gone,” said Horner.

Ricciardo finished fifth in British GP practice overnight and will have carry Red Bull after Verstappen’s unfortunate crash.

— with AAP

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