Daniel Ricciardo: “Reports of a deal with Ferrari for 2019 are untrue”. Ricciardo said he will not allow the discussions around his future become a distraction from his 2018 campaign.

28-year-old Australian racing driver Daniel Ricciardo has confirmed that the recents reports which indicated that he has an arrangement in place to potentially join Ferrari for the 2019 F1 season are not true. The Red Bull driver added he has not spoken to any rival teams, including Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes, about his contract for next year.

“I have only had talks with Red Bull.” – explained Daniel Ricciardo during Thursday’s FIA press conference in Baku, ahead of the 2018 Azerbaijan GP – “Even already last year we’ve been pretty open with each other. I think through the media as well everyone’s aware they’re interested in keeping me, we’ve had some talks regarding that. Obviously I’m aware of other reports but there hasn’t been anything else so they’re not true, at least up until now, certainly not.” – he added.

Speaking in response to a question from RaceFans, Daniel Ricciardo said he will not allow the discussions around his future become a distraction from his 2018 campaign: “I have got a small group around me [and] as far as the real negotiations go I’ve got a guy doing that for me. I’m obviously super-aware and invested in what I want and where I see myself but a far as the real, in-depth talks and all that it’s best for me not to really focus on that too much. The real requirement is to try and put myself in a position to win a world title. It doesn’t mean where I am currently is not that place but I think that’s why I’m trying to take my time with it is because it’s still too early. Obviously we won last race, that was great. Realistically we need to win more than just once in the season to fight for a title so that’s why I’m going to take my time. That’s the priority for sure. The financials and all that is definitely behind that.” – the Red Bull driver concluded.