Hamilton: Max earns more money but Dan more consistent

Red Bull signalled their intent late last year by signing Verstappen to a long-term deal in what many felt was a slap in the face for the Australian. Since then he has not been in a rush to ink a new deal as he takes stock of his current season and also what lies in store for the future.

Now, after a superb victory in Monte-Carlo, Ricciardo's shares are bullish as a decision on his future looms and talk of interest from Mercedes and Ferrari have been a constant for some time now.

Hamilton, by design or not, stirred the pot after the race on Sunday, "From what I hear, [Daniel] has a teammate who is making a lot more money than him and yet he is more consistent at keeping the car together and more often than not pulling it through."

"It's important in a team you are valued at what you a worth. I would imagine his future is there. He is one of the top drivers and in the top areas there are only Ferrari and Mercedes that he could ever consider."

Hamilton doubts that Ricciardo will find a drive with Mercedes or Ferrari next year, "That is unlikely here [at Mercedes] and l don't think that is going to happen. And if you look at Ferrari, I imagine Kimi will want to continue - he is driving really well this year and doesn't seem to be ageing."

While Verstappen has endured a season littered with incidents and expensive crashes, Ricciardo is delivering. In Monaco, the Australian maximised a package which was the pick of the field in qualifying and the race. Never putting a foot wrong all weekend and digging deep to hang on to his best victory at the pinnacle of the sport.

In contrast, his teammate crashed late in FP3, which resulted in the car with pole and race winning potential starting the race from the back of the grid with no chance to make it into qualifying. Expensive on all fronts.

Hamilton continued, "At the moment [Ricciardo] is the probably the lead driver in that team so it's not a bad place to be. At some stage, Red Bull are going to get an engine and then they will be even closer in the mix with us. He just needs to keep his head down and doing what he is currently doing."

Ricciardo's victory on Sunday puts him third in the 2018 F1 world championship standings behind leader Hamilton and second-placed Sebastian Vettel. After six races, the big smiling Aussie has twice the number of points as his younger teammate.