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Daniel Ricciardo believes it is becoming increasingly likely that Red Bull will stick with Renault Formula 1 power beyond 2016 following the French manufacturer's performance increase so far this year.

Red Bull tried to strike deals with Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda late last year to avoid having to use Renault engines in 2016, eventually renegotiating its deal to badge the units as TAG Heuer.

But the partnership has started the season better than expected, and Ricciardo even led the Chinese Grand Prix after starting on the front row.

When asked if he could see Red Bull sticking with Renault, Ricciardo said: "I think so. It's definitely not unlikely now.

"If we do get what we hope we see from the update [mid-season], it should put us on a Ferrari power unit level, which is competitive enough for the team and chassis level we have.

"So we might not have as much of a silly season with the power units as we did last year."

Ricciardo said Renault's early-season improvements were not expected, with bigger updates expected to be introduced around the Canadian Grand Prix in June.

Asked by Autosport if Renault's performance so far was a surprise, Ricciardo added: "Yeah, I would say so.

"We didn't expect the power unit we have now to be that different to how we ended last year.

"But it seems like the changes they did make have given us a bit more, so that's cool.

"The gain we've made from both the chassis and the engine seems to be a good step on both sides - I would say both are working together pretty evenly.

"As long as the updates give us what we expect, probably for Montreal, then we'll be looking pretty good.

"We seem to be coping running a bit less downforce and hanging in there with Mercedes and Ferrari through the corners, but it's been like that since I've been with Red Bull.

"Come Barcelona and Monaco, you can't really afford to compromise there, so then we might see the true power unit difference."