Under-pressure Australian Daniel Ricciardo on Friday said he has spoken to McLaren team boss Zak Brown and felt he had the team’s full support amid speculation surrounding his Formula One future with the former champions. The 32-year-old moved to McLaren from Renault last season with his contract running until the end of 2023.

But his struggles to get to grips with the Woking-based team’s car have continued into a second season, raising questions about whether he will see out the length of his deal. The speculation intensified after Brown confirmed the existence of exit clauses in Ricciardo’s contract two weeks ago.

“Yeah, so, firstly we’ve spoken, we’ve had a catch up,” Ricciardo told reporters at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“The clarity is clear for us moving forward, my contract is clear with the team until the end of next year, I’m fully committed.

“I have the full support of the team and we want to do it together,” he added. Ricciardo, who twice finished third in the overall drivers’ standings while racing for Red Bull, said he hadn’t read too much into Brown’s comments adding his self-belief was intact.

“I think stripping it back to the core, I still know what I can do, I still believe I have it.”

“It’s not a place of like low self-confidence or low self-esteem... I think in this sport that everything operates at such a high level and if something’s a little bit out of tune it can have a carry on effect.”