Australia's Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reports that while he out-shone the quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel in 2014, he was making "just over $1 million" for the year.

That is many multiples times less than German Vettel's salary.

The newspaper said Ricciardo's fee is now likely to be more than doubled for 2015, with significant bonuses in the offering for race wins and titles.

The 25-year-old confirmed: "Yeah, I should be (paid more). I should get a little bit of a pay rise, so we'll see how much that ends up being."

Despite finishing third behind only the dominant Mercedes in 2014, Ricciardo's salary is dwarfed by many of the top drivers he defeated this year.

But he said: "On average, most of us are earning a pretty good wage but the best thing is if you can make a living out of what you love."