Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull must start the 2018 season in a stronger position if it is to fight for the title, having played catch-up against its rivals across the past few campaigns.
Red Bull began 2017 on the back foot compared to Mercedes and Ferrari amid correlation issues between wind tunnel data and on-track results, frequently leaving the team a lonely third in both qualifying and race trim.
However, Red Bull has made progress through the year, enabling Max Verstappen to triumph at the most recent race in Malaysia, with Ricciardo on the podium.
Due to the stable nature of the regulations, Ricciardo is optimistic that Red Bull can learn from its early struggles and begin 2018 in a more competitive manner.
“I still don’t know why the last few years we’ve had slow starts and then found a way to come back,” he said.
“So I guess the idea is again what we learn, because there’s not many changes next year, what we learn hopefully from this year hopefully we take to next year and we start stronger.
“That’s obviously the plan, that’s everyone’s wish and yeah, I guess we go from there.
“I feel [as if] I’ve said it every time this year but where we are now this year, you’d think next year we should be competitive.
“Mercedes has been winning for too long. We’ll try to change that.”
Ricciardo also feels that Red Bull is “close” to having the best chassis on the grid.
“We have to be close,” he said on whether the RB13 was the leading chassis. “If it’s not then we’re certainly close, and a lot closer than we were in the first handful of races this year.
“Like Monza, you surprise yourself on Sunday but then in Singapore, Sebastian [Vettel] puts a few tenths on us in qualifying. So you’re like ‘we do and we don’t, we do and we don’t’.
“Obviously, in Malaysia we were quick. If Ferrari has started at the front they would have been tough to beat.
“But we’re certainly close. If we’re not the best, we’re certainly close and I think this circuit [Suzuka] is another chance for us to show that and I’m looking forward to it very much.”
Discussion about this post