Whilst, in the wake of the strategic errors that cost him podiums, and even a win, in Barcelona and Monaco, it looked as though the Australian might seek out pastures new, it now appears Daniel Ricciardo is to remain with Red Bull.

Asked in Baku about recent comments from (team boss) Christian Horner and (Red Bull motor sport consultant) Helmut Marko that indicated he was remaining with the Austrian team, Ricciardo told reporters: "It's always been pretty discreet. Helmut made a few comments. Obviously it means he likes me.

"It's hard to tell some days," he added with a grin, "but I honestly think the team is very happy with the line-up they've got at the moment. I'd say it's pretty stable."

Asked by the official F1 website about the previous rumours of a move to Ferrari, he said: "The deal with Red Bull was always long term. The only thing that was keeping things a bit open was performance.

"If they were doing really bad then I am sure if I had an approach for a winning car then it would have been okay," he continued. "But at the moment, behind Mercedes it is the next best place to be and I hope that in 2017 we can be as good as Mercedes.

Other than the usual excellent Red Bull chassis, the team has been buoyed by the resurgence of Renault.

"We are getting closer," he admitted, "but I don’t think that we are even yet. If we look back, we saw that Nico Rosberg found it quite difficult to pass Max in Montreal, but I still believe they are able to run more downforce than us. And even if both cars were to run on the same downforce level I think that Mercedes would have a speed advantage. But we are closing in!"

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