Daniel Ricciardo would be interesting in the thought of joining a team up which could be built up into a championship-contending outfit in 2019.

His admission comes after Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko suggested McLaren are prepared to offer $20m a year for the Australian, likely as a replacement for an IndyCar-bound Fernando Alonso.

Given Ricciardo has previously stated his decision next season will be driven by a will to become champion some would consider the chances of him joining one of the current midfield teams as very small, however...

"I'm not going to say 'no, it doesn't interest me at all', probably more because of what Lewis [Hamilton] was able to do with Mercedes," he told Autosport, with the Briton leaving McLaren at the end of 2012 and joining a then less competitive Brackley-based outfit.

"Those two teams [McLaren and Renault], they're not quite in that position yet but could they be? Maybe. The thought of that, it has some appeal. I wouldn't say it's probably top of my list right now, but I also wouldn't dismiss it.

"Obviously McLaren and Renault aren't there today, but maybe they will be there in a year or three years' time."

In direct response to his Red Bull advisor's claim, Ricciardo said he had not been "presented anything" by McLaren but wouldn't be surprised if the British team were considering him.

"Probably depends on what Fernando [Alonso] does, if he stays, if he goes," he said. "If he does go, then I guess, yeah, they'd probably want a more experienced driver to come in."

Perhaps the most important factor now for the 28-year-old to decide is whether Red Bull is going to be competitive enough after switching to Honda engines, as they confirmed earlier this week.

"It was something I was in a way already trying to prepare for or calculate in my mind," he said.

"Just going to try and understand a little bit more about it now that it's definitely happening, and just to try and keep putting the pieces together if it's a good move.

"There's certainly a lot of pros. Just trying to add it all up, really, in my mind."