Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull is only a ‘little bit’ behind reigning champions Mercedes after a positive start to the second week of testing ahead of the 2018 Formula 1 season.

Ricciardo topped the sixth day, setting a new track record and beating the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton by 0.353s, though Ricciardo set his lap on the hypersoft tyres, while Hamilton set his on the harder ultrasoft tyres.

Mercedes is notorious for its qualifying engine modes, which left its Renault-powered rivals in the dust in Q3 sessions last year.

“We are getting there,” Ricciardo said. “The Mercs still look pretty quick. I think there is a few tenths is in the tyre. And I guess their qualifying mode, when they decided to use it, will probably be a bit more than ours as well.

“I think that they still have a bit more on the rest, but it is not too bad. We are looking pretty good.”

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While he identified Mercedes as the team to beat, Ricciardo is unsure of Ferrari’s pace.

“I’m not really sure about Ferrari at the moment,” he added. “But we are in a decent place. We made some good changes to the car today, so I think we are better than we were 12 months ago, let’s say that much.

“I feel the balance is similar to how it is last year, but I feel where our car was good last year I feel we’ve made that even better, so our strengths have become stronger. The last sector, traction, things like this, the car feels quite strong, so this is a good base for now.

“We will still work on a few weaknesses but generally it does not feel too bad. Mercedes are still quick, if everything was equal right now they still have a little bit on the rest, but I don’t think it is too big. So it seems positive.”

Max Verstappen is driving the RB14 on Thursday, meaning Ricciardo will drive it on Friday, his final time before the Australian Grand Prix.