Daniel Ricciardo feels Red Bull can be in the mix for the leading positions at the Monaco Grand Prix after he finished as Sebastian Vettel’s closest challenger during practice on Thursday.
Ricciardo, having posted the fifth best time in the first session, placed second to pace setter Vettel during the afternoon running, winding up 0.487s behind his former team-mate.
The Australian, last year’s pole sitter, reckons Red Bull has the potential to be among the fight towards the front of the pack.
“We are looking pretty good at the moment,” he reflected after Thursday’s pair of sessions.
“We put some good laps together and know where we need to improve so I’m very happy with our position after the first day.
“We have good downforce here, the rear of the car feels like it is working the best it has so far this year.
“If we can get the tyres warmed up I think we can be pretty close on Saturday.
“I don’t think we need to do too much to the car set-up wise at the moment, just a couple of small tweaks overnight perhaps.”
Max Verstappen was sixth quickest and feels his potential was squandered by a red-flag period, caused when Lance Stroll crashed at Massenet.
“It felt quite straightforward today, the balance of the car felt ok and we didn’t do too many big changes so we are pleased with our performance,” he said.
“We still need some small improvements which we will hopefully find overnight and be up there at the front.
“The red flag in the second practice messed up my run a bit so I didn’t get a good chance on the new tyres and to show a true fast lap potential.
“I have learnt from the last few years you do not need to be the quickest on Thursday, it takes a lot of concentration here as one small mistake means you are in the wall and the session is over.”
