12/07/2018
NEWS STORY
If Zak Brown's claim that McLaren is on "a journey" helped ease the fears of some, his warning that it might take "two or ten" years before the Woking outfit is a force again will have killed off any interest from potential world champions keen to help the legendary British realise its dream.
And with Daniel Ricciardo clearly realising that he doesn't have those "two or ten" years the Australian is looking more and more likely to stay put at Red Bull.
"Not every door is closed, but it's looking more and more likely that the other top teams will probably remain with their line ups," he said, according to ESPN, those teams being Mercedes and Ferrari.
"I don't have the facts on that but you can just kind of read between the lines and you feel that that is probably going to remain," he added.
"So obviously if it wasn't Red Bull then they are the other two most attractive options, so if they are not possible, then for me now it is hard to be convinced that another option is better than Red Bull. So I'm just making sure that I'm right with my judgments."
While there must be fears that Red Bull may have made the wrong decision in dropping Renault for Honda, others feel that the team's apparent bias towards Max Verstappen could be another stumbling block to Ricciardo's decision.
However, asked if he would be seeking number one status, the popular Australian is adamant.
I don't want that," he insists. "Not that I don't want that... I don't need that.
However, he admits that there have been little niggles in recent weeks that have given him doubts and would need addressing.
"Obviously Max is driving well, but I genuinely think, there have been things every weekend since Monaco, which have just been a bit of a disruption or a bit of bad luck, like the front wing and all that with Paul Ricard, and the DRS at Silverstone."