Daniel Ricciardo tipped to join Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in major Max Verstappen snub

“Comparing records is a tricky one,” he explained.

“We all like a number and we all like to beat a number, but it’s really difficult to compare.

“All you can say is he’s done the best job he can and the team have done a fantastic job, they’ve not been beaten in the hybrid era and Lewis has won all but one Championship with them.

“I don’t see that changing either. It’s going to continue until he stops, or until he gets a team-mate that can actually challenge him.

“He’s definitely learned from his team-mates, and he’s definitely a more rounded driver than when we were team-mates. But if he had a team-mate like Max [Verstappen], we would see a different driver from Lewis.