Red Bull have made clear that Daniel Ricciardo is still in the game at the energy drink company's top Formula 1 team.
Although the Australian is an established F1 star, it has been teen sensation Max Verstappen grabbing all the praise and headlines in the wake of his Barcelona win.
"What? Verstappen won the last race?" Ricciardo said sarcastically in Monaco.
Ricciardo admitted that he struggled to get over not winning in Spain with his inferior three-stop strategy, but insists that he never suspected Red Bull deliberately fouled up his race to favour Verstappen.
"I never thought anything like that," Ricciardo insisted to newspaper Osterreich. "The three stop was done with the best of intentions."
Indeed, with only one new-spec Renault engine available to Red Bull this weekend, the team have taken the decision to fit it to Ricciardo's car rather than Verstappen's.
"It was always clear that whoever is ahead in the championship would get the engine if there is only one of them," Ricciardo said.
"That was already decided before Max came into the team."
As for facing off each weekend against a driver now compared with a young Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher, Ricciardo said that he is happy to have Verstappen as his teammate.
"If I can get on top then it is only good for me and probably for both of our careers," he said.
Ricciardo and Verstappen are currently fourth and sixth in the rankings respectively.
