Daniel Ricciardo has said that Red Bull are seemingly the third quickest car for this weekends Chinese Grand Prix behind Mercedes and Ferrari but is wary of an attack from Williams on Saturday.
Red Bull have endured a difficult start to the season, struggling to get to grips with their Renault power unit suffering from poor reliability. The Milton Keynes team have threatened to quit the sport if they are unable to find a winning power unit to put in the back of their cars.
Toro Rosso, the sister team to the Bull’s looked to be one step ahead of them last time out in Malaysia with both Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz finishing ahead of Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.
Ricciardo, the only man to beat Mercedes to a race win in 2014 was third quickest in second practice as Red Bull look to press on with their title challenge. Renault are said to be running with more power this weekend after Red Bull were critical of how the French manufacturer ran their power units.
“It was definitely a positive day for us. We did more laps and more understanding with those laps. I think on both tyres, also short and long runs we’re pretty happy,” the Australian said.
“We had new parts on the car; they all seem to work, so that’s good for now. I definitely feel more confident. Even my satisfaction when driving the car this afternoon: I felt the grip; I really feel the improvements that the car’s made, so that’s always nice.
“I’m positive it can be a good weekend.”
Despite Mercedes and Ferrari still being ahead of Red Bull, Ricciardo is happy with how the team have improved since Malaysia.
“Today looked good but I don’t want to jump to conclusions yet. We look closer. I’d still think that Mercedes for sure are quicker and Ferrari as well at the moment are a small step ahead. But I think we’ve closed that step a bit,” he added.
“We seem to be a bit quicker than Williams at this stage. But they always seem to come on a bit stronger on Saturday.
“For now we seem to be the third best team and we’re trying at least to hold that.”
Image Courtesy Of Red Bull Racing F1 Team
