Renault will be looking at Ricciardo alternatives

Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul has said the team will have to “consider others” alongside Daniel Ricciardo to partner Esteban Ocon in 2021.

Ocon is contracted to the Enstone team for 2020 and 2021, but Ricciardo’s current deal expires at the end of the year.

The Aussie, who shocked just about everyone when he first announced he was leaving Red Bull to join Renault, is keeping his options open for 2021 and beyond, so too are Renault.

Renault’s advisor, Alain Prost, recently confirmed that there is no automatic option to trigger in order to extend Ricciardo’s contract and, coupled with the lack of racing due to the global health crisis, it has created one of many complicated situations in Formula 1.

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“I have no great revelation to make,” Abiteboul said in an interview with Auto Hebdo.

“Daniel is an option for us, obviously. But we have to consider others.

“It is complicated for Daniel and for us.

“We wanted to see the spirit, the performance, the way the team worked during this second year together, what progress we had made on the car, how it all felt.

“We had discussed a timetable to identify the key stages where we wanted to talk. All of this was in the normal universe that has since been shattered.

“The absence of races makes things more complicated to make the right decisions, but we cannot delay them forever.”

Renault are keen to showcase their academy by promoting one of their junior talents and Christian Lundgaard is waiting in the wings should an opportunity come his way if Ricciardo does decide to leave.

Abiteboul, meanwhile, has once again called for answers from the FIA and Ferrari relating to the power unit investigation that resulted in a private agreement between the pair.

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