Daniel Ricciardo has given the biggest hint yet that he is going to re-sign with Red Bull beyond the 2018 season, ahead of this weekend's Austrian GP.

In recent days, the driver market for next year has started to take shape with Mercedes not only reportedly agreeing a $40m a year deal with Lewis Hamilton until 2020 but also signalling Valtteri Bottas is to be retained for another year at least.

At Ferrari, indications are that either Kimi Raikkonen or Charles Leclerc will partner Sebastian Vettel next season, after ruling out a move for Ricciardo due to the high salary costs, and now talks between Red Bull and the Australian have continued ahead of the company's home race in Spielberg.

“It’s not over yet but it will come. Soon. The time is not far away,” he told the media at a promotional event this week.

Other potential alternatives included Renault and notably McLaren, who admitted making contact with the 28-year-old following reports they were offering $20m a year for the seven-time Grand Prix winner.

As Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko pointed out, however: “Daniel is in a situation where he has no sporting alternative to us. He probably imagined it differently.

“We want it [to continue with Ricciardo], but not at any price.”

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It is the price though that could be a sticking point, with teammate Max Verstappen negotiating a big-money contract last year and most believing Ricciardo is currently worth more.

“I said it from the start, the priority is to try and get a car that can win a world title because I really believe I can. So that’s the first thing in my mind,” the 28-year-old was quoted by PlanetF1 on Thursday.

“If there was absolutely no possibility then you look into other things, but I think as a driver I think I’ve done enough now.

“Even Lewis touched on it, and I didn’t even need to really say it, your value as a driver is not ‘X’ amount of money it’s just what you feel your value is and what you bring to the sport.

“I feel I hold a certain value so I just want to at least match that with my expectations and what also people value me as.”