Daniel Ricciardo believes Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen was "wise" to any possible overtaking move he could have been able to try in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.
Ricciardo started from eighth on the grid, having copped a three-place penalty on Friday when he was sanctioned for a red-flag violation.
It left Ricciardo facing an uphill challenge, but after a good start and a double retirement for the Haas team, Ricciardo found himself in the hunt for a podium while trying to chase down Raikkonen in the final half of the race.
However, while remaining within sight of Raikkonen, Ricciardo was unable to seriously challenge the Finn's grip on the final podium position, and eventually had to settle for fourth.
"I’m happy with the way I drove and we had a very fast race car," said Ricciardo.
"It’s not often I sit behind someone for most of the race but it’s a tight track and one of the more tricky ones for passing. There were a couple of times I had a look at Turn 3 but Kimi was wise to that and could see what I was planning.
"Towards the end, I applied more pressure on him but he was able to up the pace as well.
"I think we’re pretty close with Ferrari and our race pace is strong, which I thought would be the case, so we just need to get a few more tenths out of qualifying and then we should be looking good.
"Being so close to the podium and getting fastest lap is definitely an encouraging way to start the season."
With team-mate Max Verstappen sixth, it marked the first time that Red Bull has had both cars reach the chequered flag in Australia in the hybrid era.
Discussion about this post