Daniel Ricciardo has said he wouldn’t rule out returning to Red Bull in the future as negotiations over a near contract with his current team, Renault, are set to begin soon.
Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of the 2018 season after signing a two-year deal with Renault in the belief that the French manufacturer team could be title contenders in the near future.
An extension to Ricciardo’s deal is expected, but the with current pandemic pausing the 2020 season, Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul admitted it would be tough to begin negotiations without knowing how a driver is performing, with Ricciardo’s sole season at the team last year difficult to judge.
Ricciardo’s comments reflected those from Abiteboul: “It is hard having chats right now – because we haven’t had [races], we’re at a stalemate, nothing’s really happened,” he told Sky Sports.
“Normally chats start to come off the back of races, and results and momentum, so there’s honestly not much to talk about for now.”
But asked if he would rule out returning to Red Bull – a team he left after admitting he thought they favoured team-mate Max Verstappen, the Australian said: “I actually haven’t really been asked that one. Would I rule out going back to Red Bull? I guess, to answer it: you know, no.
“Something I’ve learned growing up in general just through life is never say never, and never completely disregard something – unless it was going to prison or something that you’d really not want to go back to,” he joked.
