Daniel Ricciardo has said that he is confident that he can win a World Championship with McLaren in the future as he gets to grips with his new team.

News broke during the middle of last season that the Australian driver would be switching from Renault to McLaren for this campaign and in the first two races there have been promising signs over the team's progress.

Indeed, they look capable of fighting for third place in the Constructors' championship at least this year alongside the likes of Ferrari and, with the new rules coming in for 2022, the hope will be that they are on a trajectory back to the very front of the grid.

Certainly, that is a hope that Ricciardo shares with him speaking to EFTMOnline and fielding the question over whether he feels he can become a world champion at his current team.

He said:

"Yeah! Is it this year? No, but I've already seen in the first couple of races where I look at my lap at the weekend [at Imola] and I'm confident that I'm not getting everything out of it and I was four-tenths off pole so the team has closed the gap a bunch.

"The rule changes are going to change everything next year but I feel what the team has done is a step in the right direction this year.

"Guns are blazing down here and it's really cool to see so that fills me with a lot of confidence to give you a yes to that question."

Ricciardo is currently 7th in the standings in the Drivers' championship with him just a little behind team-mate Lando Norris who has started this campaign in scintillating form with the Briton asking his team back in Imola to move Ricciardo out of the way as he went on to achieve a fine podium.

The Australian, though, is new to the team and he evidently feels there is more performance for him to get from the car, which he'll be looking to do as soon as possible.

McLaren have certainly improved in recent years after being in the doldrums not so long ago and in Norris and Ricciardo they have one of the more exciting driver line-ups on the grid.

Certainly, the title looks out of reach this season but the way they are going and improving you would not rule out a challenge once the new regulations have been fully introduced.