Daniel Ricciardo's stunning admission about return to Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo admits he’ll ‘never say never’ about a potential return to Red Bull in the future.

Speculation continues to swirl about the Aussie driver’s next move, with his two-year Renault deal set to expire at the end of the current season.

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And despite Red Bull boss Christian Horner recently admitting he still doesn’t really know why Ricciardo left the team in 2019, the Aussie says he won’t rule out returning.

“I actually haven’t really been asked that one!” Ricciardo told the Sky Sports F1 Vodcast when asked if he’d ever rule out driving for Red Bull again.

“Would I ever rule out going to Red Bull? No... I think something I’ve learned growing up in life is never say never.

“Never completely disregard something - unless it’s going to prison or something! So never say never.”

Ricciardo also admitted talks about his future have stalled in recent times due to the coronavirus crisis.

“It is hard having chats right now, because we are at a stalemate - nothing’s really happened,” he said.

“Normally chats start to come off the back of races, results and momentum.

“There’s honestly not a lot to talk about for now, it’s more about the current situation and how we’re going to deal with it. It’s all pretty slow and steady to be honest at this stage.”

Red Bull stilled miffed about Ricciardo’s exit

Horner recently admitted he remains at a loss as to why Ricciardo elected to join Renault at the end of the 2018 season.

Ricciardo had been a consistent race-winner with Red Bull - including three wins in the 2018 campaign - but felt he needed a fresh start when he joined the French team.

“I was disappointed at the time because I’d put a lot into trying to retain Daniel and get him to stay,” Horner said on the In the Pink podcast.

“I just couldn’t understand his decision-making.

“I like Daniel very much, he’s a great guy, he was a great member of this team and if I take off my Red Bull hat I couldn’t understand his logic behind the move that he made.

“If it was for Mercedes or Ferrari I could have understood that.”

Renault’s 2019 campaign was plagued by engine issues and a car that underperformed for most of the season.

Red Bull, on the other hand, kept themselves in championship contention after switching to Honda engines, ending their long-running partnership with Renault, who had been their power supplier for most of their time in F1.

“I think only Daniel can answer that,” Horner replied when asked if Ricciardo regretted the switch.

“Had he been in the team last year he would have been challenging for victories and pole positions but that wasn’t the case.

“What his thoughts on that are, I’m not a mind-reader.”

with Chris Young