Max Verstappen has said that in order for him to stay with Red Bull beyond 2019 then the team must improve its pace and performance.
Verstappen joined the squad in 2016 but has suffered most of the bad luck this year retiring from 5 races while teammate Ricciardo has had a string of podiums and a race win.
It comes days after Red Bull boss Christian Horner said the Dutchman would not be lured by other opportunities at Ferrari or Mercedes.
His current contract ends in 2019 but it is not know if there is a performance break clause if he is unhappy with the performance of the car.
“I’ve always said that there’s no reason to leave when I have a competitive car,” said Verstappen, whilst speaking at the Zandvoort DTM race
“At the moment we are not there where I want to be, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up straight away. You have to work hard.
“But after two, three years without improving, that would be a different story. We are working hard to improve but after next year we will see what happens in the future.”