Daniel Ricciardo not ruling out a return to Red Bull next year

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo not ruling out a return to Red Bull next year

Australian open to a Red Bull return alongside Max Verstappen

Sam Hall

Saturday 25 April 2020 02:52

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Current Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo has swung the door back open on a potential return to former team Red Bull, with the Australian's existing deal set to expire at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season.

Ricciardo caused more than a few ripples in the driver transfer market in 2018 when he announced that he was leaving Red Bull to join Renault and now it appears as though a move in the opposite direction is on his mind.

"Would I ever rule out going to Red Bull? No... I think something I've learned growing up in life is never say never," Ricciardo told the Sky Sports F1 Vodcast.

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"Never completely disregard something - unless it's going to prison or something! So never say never.”

Renault had appeared to be a team on the rise before Ricciardo's arrival for the 2019 campaign, but a strong season for rivals McLaren saw the French manufacturer drop to fifth in the constructors' standings.

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Ricciardo has been linked with a move away from Renault after a frustration maiden campaign at the French manufacturer, in which the team slipped to fifth in the constructors’ championship behind midfield rivals McLaren.

Numerous reliability problems, especially in the earlier moments of the season, severely hampered Ricciardo's performance, and it is unlikely that the continued success of former teammate Max Verstappen at Red Bull escaped his notice.

Talks of a contract extension would usually have begun by this point in the season. However, these talks usually rely heavily on the performance of both the driver and the current machinery and, with no racing having taken place, Ricciardo says that talks have reached a stalemate.

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"It is hard having chats right now, because we are at a stalemate - nothing's really happened," continued Ricciardo. "Normally chats start to come off the back of races, results and momentum.

"There's honestly not a lot to talk about for now, it's more about the current situation and how we're going to deal with it. It's all pretty slow and steady to be honest at this stage."