Ricciardo refuses to rule out McLaren or Renault move

Daniel Ricciardo is one of the hottest properties in the Formula One market these days due to his Red Bull contract expiring at the end of the current campaign. Red Bull want to keep him, and Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault, and McLaren are interested, and he has refused to rule out a move to a smaller team.

The German media reported this week that McLaren had tabled a huge offer to Ricciardo worth $20 million a year on a multi-year contract which would treble his current wages with Red Bull which are less than what his team-mate, Max Verstappen, receives.

Should the Australian decide to move on, Ferrari or Mercedes were thought to be the more likely destinations, but he has not shot down the idea of moving to McLaren or Renault, even if they are not at championship level at the moment.

"I'm not going to say 'no, it doesn't interest me at all'," he said when asked if he would be interested in a move to Renault or McLaren.

"Probably more because of what Lewis was able to do with Mercedes.

"Those two teams [McLaren and Renault], they're not quite in that position yet but could they be? Maybe.

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"The thought of that, it has some appeal. I wouldn't say it's probably top of my list right now, but I also wouldn't dismiss it. Obviously McLaren and Renault aren't there today, but maybe they will be there in a year or three years' time."

Ricciardo has recognised the interest from McLaren without giving details on any offer which has or has not been made, and reckons it could depend on what Fernando Alonso decides to do with his future.

"I'll be honest, obviously everyone's talking about Mercedes and Ferrari for potential places for me to go but I'm aware that there's obviously going to be interest from other teams - and I guess McLaren is probably one of them," he continued.

"Probably depends as well on what Fernando [Alonso] does, if he stays, if he goes. If he does go, then I guess, yeah, they'd probably want a more experienced driver to come in."