Marko: We want to keep Daniel and he knows it

Although reports of Ferrari and even Mercedes interest in his services has bubbled for quite some time now, Red Bull are keen to hang on to their big smiling Australian.

Driver consultant Helmut Marko told Auto Bild, "For us, nothing changes. We want to keep Daniel and he knows it. Why should he go to Mercedes or Ferrari? To be a number two driver?

"With us, Daniel has equal opportunities with the same equipment and no team orders. I think he knows that too," added Marko.

In October last year, Red Bull inked a three year deal with Ricciardo's teammate Max Verstappen, at the time many believed the Australian was snubbed by his own team.

But, since then the young Dutchman has been wayward and incident-prone, which has cost himself and his team valuable points and even possible victories.

Meanwhile, in the garage next door, Ricciardo has been going about his business quietly but with ruthless efficiency and as a result, he has won twice and lies third in the standings after six rounds. He has scored double the points his teammate has been able to do thus far in the season.

In the wake of his tenacious drive to victory at the recent Monaco Grand Prix, team chief Christian Horner observed, "You could say that [the victory] just made Daniel more expensive, it has put his value up, or it's put the team in a stronger position in terms of valuable potential to him."

"The reality is finding a solution to conclude a deal with Daniel in the next couple of months. First thing is to get the engine sorted and then very much follow on from there with [the] driver."