Max Verstappen has praised former teammate Daniel Ricciardo but thinks he'd be happier at the front of the grid.

The pair struck up a strong relationship during their near-three-year partnership at Red Bull before the Australian opted to leave for Renault at the end of 2018.

But his risky move is yet to really pay off, after finishing ninth in last year's championship, and Verstappen was asked if he thought the absence of Ricciardo at the front made the sport worse off?

"It doesn't really matter if the sport would be in a better place, but Daniel would be in a better place if he was fighting at the front," the Dutchman told Australia's The Age.

"Daniel is smiling a lot and he's a very happy guy, but I think he would be smiling even more if he was winning races and being on the podium. I know Daniel and I know Daniel is very fast, so I can imagine last year was not the easiest for him."

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Verstappen also feels Ricciardo's talent is somewhat going to waste battling the midfield based on how the 30-year-old helped him to improve at Red Bull.

"It's very hard to compare against someone like Lewis [Hamilton] because there is no real comparison, but Daniel was faster than Seb [Vettel] in the year they raced together, and I've raced alongside him long enough to know that he's a very fast guy," he said.

"When I first joined Red Bull [in 2016], I was very inexperienced and throughout the years I became stronger and more connected in the team, but he was a nice teammate because we were pushing each other very hard.

"That was very good for the team because we were trying to fight each other to find that final tenth [of a second], and the whole team lifted because of that.

"He was nice to work with and I loved that time."

This season, Ricciardo finds himself back in a similar situation he faced alongside Verstappen as another talented youngster, Esteban Ocon, joins him at Renault.

And like Max, the young Frenchman sees Daniel as a good benchmark.

"He's a guy who has won races and has had pole positions, so it's a good chance for me to see how much I've got inside," Ocon said.

"In Formula 1 you always want to race against the best, and I have one of the best in my team. I'm trying to see what he's doing and to get as close to him as I can to see how I can improve.

See how he's doing things, because he is a reference for me."

At Red Bull though, it was Verstappen eventually getting the better of Ricciardo which contributed to his decision to leave and the Aussie wants to avoid a repeat.

"I know if he starts beating me, that becomes the narrative, but I'm not looking into that too much," he claimed.

"Until he starts beating me, I have every opportunity to beat him, so I'm going to do what I can to make sure I'm the one."