Australian Daniel Ricciardo said Thursday that he felt confident he will be on the Formula One grid in a Red Bull car next year, despite the team’s lack of a confirmed engines supplier.

He said that he is more concerned with ensuring that he is at the wheel of a competitive and well-designed car than he is by the team’s ongoing struggle to secure excellent power units.

“Not much has changed to be honest,” he told reporters at a news conference ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

“We are still not really confirmed with anything yet, but I am confident we will be racing. I’m confident we will be there and hopefully competitive. I think that is the bigger thing.

“I have confidence we will be on the grid, but the concern is can we be competitive? This year, we have got a couple of podiums which is nice, but certainly not enough to keep us extremely happy.

“We want to be competitive again and I think that is just as important as being on the grid.”

Red Bull have said they may pull out of F1 next year if they do not have a competitive engine after being frustrated by current supplier Renault’s poor power units.

They served notice on ending their agreement with Renault in July, but may consider continuing with the French company after failing in bids to secure a supply of power units from Mercedes and Ferrari.