Daniel Ricciardo believes a year-old Ferrari engine next year would put Red Bull in better shape than it is with its up-to-date Renault this season.

Red Bull has threatened to quit the sport if it cannot secure a competitive engine supply deal by the end of this month. It is hoping to secure a Ferrari engine deal for 2016 to replace Renault, but Maranello is reluctant to offer equal power units to a main rival.

Asked if year-old Ferrari engines would be enough to keep Red Bull in the sport next season, Ricciardo said: "It depends how good their 2016-spec is! If it means we are 20bhp less than our competitors then it would put us in much better shape than we are this year [with Renault]. But still, knowing that you are not going to have the best ... you've got to weigh it up.

"I don't know, it would be better than this year for sure. We've proved we've got a good car and at tracks like Singapore we can be competitive, but it's just these tracks with the longer straights where we are going to bleed a bit. If we can more consistently fight for podiums, at least that will be a step in the right direction."

Ricciardo said he was not going to get too worried about his future until Red Bull's position is more clear.

"I haven't thought about the negative potential outcome of it yet - I'm still pretty positive. It's good that Dietrich has set a bit of a deadline because we have got to know what we are doing, and if we are going with 'X' engine then we have got to start designing the car and all the rest of it. We can't wait until Christmas, so we will see in a few more weeks if we get a decision or an outcome.

"I'm still positive as long as we have still got time on our side. It's not the end of October yet, so I'll remain positive and if we get to the end of October and nothing has been sorted then I'll for sure start having my eyes and ears a little bit more open about what else is going on. I think we will get something that is decent enough to convince us to stay in the sport and that means giving us a chance to win."

Asked if he had a Plan-B should Red Bull quit, Ricciardo joked: "I've looked into some property in Vegas, so maybe just buy or rent a house there if I'm not racing! I'll just live it up for a while! I joke, but I'm sure that would wear off after a while. Once the season started, if I was on the couch watching it ... I want to be out racing that's for sure. I'm too young to be sat on the couch!"