Ricciardo: Red Bull 'the next best place to be'

Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull is "the next best place to be" after Mercedes after confirming his future at the team.

With Kimi Raikkonen out of contract at the end of the season, Ricciardo has often been linked with a move to Ferrari having failed to win a race with Red Bull since 2014. However, with Red Bull showing improved form this year, Ricciardo's contract has been confirmed as running until the end of the 2018 season.

"The deal with Red Bull was always long term," Ricciardo told the official Formula 1 website. "The only thing that was keeping things a bit open was performance.

"More from my side. But again, 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. 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."

And team principal Christian Horner suggests Red Bull has activated performance-related clauses to retain Ricciardo for the full length of his contract.

"Daniel is under contract," Horner confirmed to Sky Sports. "When Daniel joined Red Bull he had a five-year agreement. We are in year three, leaving two to go.

"Of course, in these contracts are performance-related causes but he's performing pretty well at the moment."