Daniel Ricciardo is hot property in the F1 world at this stage and with a contract renewal looming over his head, he has apparently decided to cash in on his ‘super-driver’ status.
Ricciardo dished out one of the best performances in F1 in recent history at the Chinese GP, winning from P6 and displaying some immaculate overtaking skills.
His contract at Red Bull expires at the end of this year and the Australian is already being lined up by Ferrari and Mercedes to take up the seat of Raikkonen and Bottas respectively.
However, Christian Horner believes that an F1 title with Red Bull this season would ensure Ricciardo’s contract renewal for them.
Ricciardo too is of the same thought and thus is stalling any contract talks as of now.
According to reports in the Italian newspaper Gazetta dello Sport, Ricciardo has demanded a massive £36million two-year contract.
The report also claims that Ricciardo has made his contract demands pretty clear to both Ferrari and Mercedes and will get into a conversation with them once he has some clarity from Red Bull.
A £36million contract could prove to be a little too much for Red Bull at this stage, and we’ll have to wait and see if Christian Horner and co. are ready to splurge out the cash for the Australian.
But will Ferrari and Mercedes have enough resources to keep hold of their first choice drivers(Hamilton and Vettel), pay their contract wages and sign up Ricciardo as the second driver for £36million a year?
After the Chinese GP win, Christian Horner felt that if the Red Bull package could keep its performance levels up, Ricciardo wouldn’t want to switch to any other team.
“I think Daniel’s happy in the [Red Bull] environment,” Horner said, as quoted by Formula1.com.
“If we can give him a car like we did [in China], why would he want to be anywhere else?” he added.
Ricciardo has also confirmed that he’ll only be looking at a two-year contract at this stage, as the new F1 rules kick in from the 2021 season and he doesn’t want to be tied down to any team during that transition phase.
Reports also suggest that Ferrari could be the most likely destination for Ricciardo, but nothing has been confirmed as of now.
