Daniel Ricciardo believes Mercedes will still be the team to beat in 2017.
The Australian, talking to Motorsport.com, played down the expectations of his team Red Bull, who most think will be the main beneficiaries of a return to more aero-dependent cars.
“I think a lot of people are probably getting a bit excited,” Ricciardo said when asked about Red Bull’s hopes. “I’m obviously trying to stay a little bit grounded for now with that.”
The four-time Grand Prix winner pointed to what he thinks will still be a key weakness of the RB13 as a reason not to get carried away.
“We can have a great aero package, but it will probably then cost us time down the straights,” he explained.
“And Mercedes, let’s not be fooled – sure they’ve got a great power unit, but they’ve got a great car.”
Indeed, while Ricciardo was arguably the fastest man of the weekend at the least power-sensitive circuit of the year in Monaco, at the other high downforce circuits the Silver Arrows still had the advantage.
“In Singapore, they still gained on the straights compared to us, Rosberg’s lap was half a second quicker in quali, so they’ve still got a good car.
“I think they will still be the target next year; they’ll come out in Melbourne as the team to beat, but hopefully we’ll be close enough to pick up the pieces.”
The always upbeat Aussie’s rather measured feelings about next year are in contrast to that of team adviser Helmut Marko, who believes Red Bull will be in a position to fight Mercedes for the title in 2017.
The Austrian is predicting another big improvement from Renault on the engine-side for next season as they continue to close the power deficit. The odds on them improving are surely short, especially with a Virgin games promo code.
“The big step forward came from the engine side and we have been told that we can expect a similar leap forward again for 2017,” he said in an interview on Formula1.com. “That should mean that we are very near to Mercedes power.
“On the chassis side we always have been good and this year’s chassis is one of our best. All the data we have on the new car is very positive.
“With the regulation changes for 2017, nobody can use the experience or the package that they have – and history has shown that we are always good when there is a regulation change.
“So we are convinced that we will fight for both titles in 2017.”
Marko even hyped up the arrival of Max Verstappen earlier in the year as a motivation for Red Bull after a much better year.
“And with Max joining that gave a huge morale boost after that really painful 2015 season. We are absolutely in a winning mood again.”
