Daniel Ricciardo is happy Red Bull has publicly clarified the length of his contract and is excited to continue alongside current teammate Max Verstappen.
Team boss Christian Horner recently confirmed Red Bull will keep Ricciardo and Verstappen for next season and beyond. There had been speculation that Ricciardo's contract expired at the end of the 2016, opening the door to a move to Ferrari, but the clarification ends the possibility of the Australian being distracted by media reports during the summer.
Ricciardo admits it was a morale boost to hear Horner and Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko announce the length of his deal during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
"It has always been pretty discrete, I guess," said Ricciardo. "Helmut made a few comments -- and it is good, he means he likes me. It is hard to tell some days!
"To be honest, the team is very happy with the line-up they have at the moment with myself and Max. I would say it is pretty stable."
The Australian would only consider a move if it guaranteed him a world title.
"Where I am in my career, personally, the only reason I would jump ship is to fight for a title," he is quoted as saying by PA Sport. At the moment, Mercedes is the only team that is fighting for a championship, so the next best place for me would not be anywhere else other than Red Bull.
"For next year, I would say we have got as good a chance as Ferrari. If they started dominating, and they're like 'Daniel, we want you to come and win a world title for us', then obviously it looks a lot more appealing, but otherwise I am in the best position."
Red Bull is the only team to have confirmed its driver line-up for next season. Mercedes is yet to agree a contract extension with championship leader Nico Rosberg, while Ferrari is once again weighing up whether or not to retain Kimi Raikkonen alongside Sebastian Vettel. Haas' Romain Grosjean and Force India's Sergio Perez have both been suggested as possible Raikkonen replacements in recent months.
Elsewhere, McLaren's driver line-up is providing the most intrigue, with Jenson Button's seat under threat from GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne. That in turn has led to rumours of Button returning to Williams, where his F1 career began in 2000, in place of Felipe Massa.