Right after winning the Monaco Grand Prix, Ricciardo is currently out of contract and is linked with a potential Ferrari or Mercedes move. But, Hamilton likes to imagine his future at Red Bull. He said “There is only Ferrari and Mercedes he could consider – but it is unlikely he is coming here,” and added “I don’t think that is going to happen.”
While talking about Ricciardo being a free agent now, he said: “He is one of the top drivers and so I am sure there will be offers.” And, while talking about his linked move to Ferrari, he said “At Ferrari I would imagine Kimi is going to want to continue and why not? He is driving really well this year and he doesn’t seem to be ageing. So I am sure he will go for a little longer.”
But, when asked about his thought for Daniel Ricciardo staying at Red Bull, he said “At the moment, [Ricciardo] is pretty much the lead driver in that team so it’s not a bad place to be,” and added “If at some stage Red Bull get an engine [closer in performance to Mercedes and Ferrari], they are going to be even closer to us. They could win many more races and he just has to keep his head down and keep doing what he’s doing and he should have his options ready.”
Besides, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner while talking about Ricciardo has also said “He is now on the same amount of victories as Lewis and Sebastian six races into the season. Bahrain – he would have been a genuine contender there, and we know what happened in Baku.” He then added “He is up to third and we have a very strong car. He has been the quickest driver. He knows the quality of the team. You can see how well he fits in the team and I’m hopeful we’ll be able to move things along in the next couple of months.”
While talking about engines, Christian Horner said “We are about a month or so away. End of June is the timescale we talk about. We are waiting with great interest to see the relative performance of engines in Montreal,” and added “One hopes that makes it easier rather than harder. It will all depend on the data.”
