Max Verstappen says a long-term future at Red Bull hinges on whether the team can provide him with a competitive car before his contract expires in 2019.
Verstappen is currently in his second season with Red Bull, one which has seen him retire from five of the opening 11 rounds of the season due to a mix of reliability issues and collisions outside of his control. The teenager's frustration at Red Bull's mixed campaign -- where it is a distant third behind Ferrari and Mercedes -- has prompted speculation he could be tempted by a move to a rival team.
Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, team boss Christian Horner dismissed speculation of a future Verstappen switch to Ferrari as "propaganda", though the Dutchman has made it clear his patience with the team will not last forever.
"I've always said that there's no reason to leave when I have a competitive car," Verstappen said during a visit to the DTM paddock for its Zandvoort round at the weekend. "At the moment we are not there where I want to be, but that doesn't mean you have to give up straight away. You have to work hard.
"But after two, three years without improving, that would be a different story. We are working hard to improve but after next year we will see what happens in the future."
Horner thinks Red Bull can aim to out-score Ferrari in the remaining races of 2017 but Verstappen thinks there is still a lot of work to do for the team to get close.
"Every race weekend is a bit different and that surprises me to be honest. On tracks with not too many straights, we are reasonably close, around three tenths more or less. When there's a few straights then we are a bit further away, so I don't know what to expect for the upcoming races. It will be quite tough to compete against them.
"Between Ferrari and Mercedes: it changes every weekend. I expect Mercedes to be very strong at Spa, because in general their power unit is still the best in the field. But it's very close."